Awaken
by Fornever Tash
Summary: "You're mine." Orochimaru's fanged kisses ravaged her throat but the only name on her bruised lips was 'Sasuke'. Blood. Akatsuki. Tears. Rape. Redemption. Hate. Friendship. Lies. Love. Love. Love. Awaken the power within. SasuSaku/Mature Themes HIATUS
1. Her Hero

**Awaken**

**Her Hero**

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_"You've been rejected... now you can't find what you've left behind..."- Nobody's Home: Avril Lavigne._

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It was hot.

Okay so hot was a complete understatement.

It was blisteringly, incredibly, 'really-thin-people-get-crispy-around-the-edges' hot.

Konoha shimmered like a tempting mirage, an oasis in a desert of tall trees. The gates lay wide open, luring any unsuspecting breeze into the ailing village.

Naruto Uzumaki smirked lazily, his jacket slung over his shoulder, his black sandals dragging in the arid sand. "Home sweet home," for a second the arrogant twist to his lips softened into a genuine smile before snapping quickly back.

Jiraiya threw a look over his shoulder at the 19 year old, eyeing the slightly nostalgic look in his apprentice's blue eyes. He paused, allowing the dawdling youth to catch up to him before reaching up to squeeze his shoulder. Their eyes met and a silent moment of understanding passed, not as teacher and student but as father and son. The moment passed and Jiraiya allowed a perverted grin to grace his face, his eyes misting over, "I can't wait to see the girls."

Naruto snorted in amusement, "I don't think Tsunade-baa-chan will appreciate having her breasts referred to as such ne, ero-sennin?" He thought back to a night not long back when Jiraiya had woken up screaming from a nightmare. Naruto had attempted to comfort the distraught man as he had broken down screaming "They popped! I was rolling my sweet girls in my hands, squeezing the delicious juicy flesh when," Jiraiya paused and choked on his words, "They popped Naruto, it's all a lie, I can't go on! How can I continue living?" The blonde had merely sighed and knocked him out with a well placed poke to a pressure point. Sometimes he wondered who the adult around here was.

They walked easily through the gates, Tsunade's guards were not present and Naruto imagined they must be running some inane errand for the fiery Godaime. His smirk widened as he pictured the two men fanning the Hokage with large palm leaves. Tsunade-baa-chan did not like the heat one bit.

"Are you going to report to Tsunade-baa-chan now?"

Jiraiya nodded, he plunged his hand into his pocket and withdrew a tattered scroll, "This is something she must see right away."

Naruto nodded grimly, allowing seriousness to sweep over his features. "Mm, okay got you sensei; I just got to do some quick things."

Jiraiya smothered the smile of pride he felt blooming on his lips and steeled his glance, "The Godaime is not a patient woman," he warned. It had been so long since Naruto had slipped and called him sensei but whenever he did, Jiraiya felt pride and fatherly affection flare inside him.

He ruffled the blonds' messy hair and laughed softly at the scowl on his face. "Go find your friends."

The blonde grinned cheekily and turned in the opposite direction, continuing his unhurried walk through Konoha.

Jiraiya shook his head and headed towards the Hokage's building, his gaze dropping to the scroll he twirled idly through his fingers. Tsunade was so not going to like this.

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"He tried to kiss you," Sakura made a vague sound of disgust in her throat as she stared at her friend, wrinkling her nose.

"God, you know Genma will hit on anything with boobs and an ass," Ino took a sip of her strong alcoholic beverage and rolled her eyes.

The two sat comfortably in a small bar on the street across from Ichiraku. The two best friends visited this place often, talking about everything and giggling like eleven year olds while chugging large amounts of anything with an above fifty proof.

Ino snorted in a way reminiscent of her 'Pig' nickname as an evil smirk crossed her face, "But I socked him in the face before I could smell the weed and raunchy sex on his breath and just last week I heard Tenten got fed up with his roving hands and shoved a kunai right up his perverted little- Oh my god." Ino stopped midsentence and choked on her drink.

Sakura stifled a laugh and followed her friend's gaze to across the street where a man stood in front of the Ichiraku, a black jacket slung over his shoulder. She licked her lips as her eyes followed the defined curve of his muscular shoulder to the biceps that rippled gorgeously under taut, silky skin. The black wife beater he wore to beat the heat clung tightly to his back muscles, slick with sweat. Her eyes caressed his taut ass and she allowed a smirk of appreciation to touch her lips. Ino's eyes were glazed and a thin line of drool was leaking from the corner of her lips. Sakura snorted and turned back to the male she was watching as he slowly turned to face them. That bright blond hair, the bottomless sky-blue eyes that just had to be...

"Naruto!"

Her drink fell from trembling fingers as she leapt to her feet, racing to reach him.

"Sakura-chan," he laughed as he caught her, his hands encircling her waist and he lifted her into the air and twirled her easily. She laughed as the bell skirt of her white summer dress caught the wind and billowed about her slim, pale legs.

"Naruto," she repeated as he set her down, tracing the three thin lines caressing his cheeks. His face had matured incredibly; he was beautiful, resembling the Yondaime more so than ever. She brushed the soft blond hair out of his soulful blue eyes. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and he allowed that cheesy, gorgeous smile he reserved only for her to replace his arrogant smirk.

"Damn you look good, I was almost drooling from the back view," she allowed a teasing smile to touch her lips.

"Look who's talking Sakura, aren't we looking smexy," he took a moment to really examine her. She had grown as much, if not more so than him. Her childish features and touch of baby fat had melted away from her face leaving high, determined cheekbones, full pink lips and luminous green eyes that retained a touch of sadness he knew he could never erase. Her long pink hair resembled Tsunade's style, two low pigtails in the front while the rest of her hair flowed freely in the back. She looked good in her civilian clothes, like a doll not a merciless shinobi in the crisp and cool summer dress she wore so gracefully, sweeping elegantly over the tops of her knees.

"Sorry brother," she tipped her head back in the challenging manner he had missed so much, "I don't play the incest game."

"Right back at you sis," he allowed his twisted smirk to form once again, "Just try not to jump my bones."

"Cocky are we."

"More like self-assured."

"You have an ego the size of Kakashi-sensei's porn collection."

"It goes well with the size of my-"

"Naruto!"

"Just kidding," he laughed and rubbed a hand through his messy hair. "But you know you want me."

"Oh baby oh baby, take me now," she deadpanned.

He smothered another laugh, "Where are Kakashi-sensei and Sai?"

"Kaka-sensei is in Mist investigating Akatsuki and Sai's in Suna," Sakura snorted with suppressed amusement, "He's become temporary ambassador representing Konoha."

"Leave it to Sai to start a war with our closest ally," Naruto suppressed a laugh.

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Ino slowly closed her mouth and wiped away the accumulated drool. Oh god she had just been having a very graphic sexual fantasy in which Naruto had thrown her against the wall of a dark alley and ravaged her senseless. 'Oh my god, I'm having sexual fantasies about Naruto, I really need to get laid,' She thought. 'Mm but a delicious, gorgeous, totally tasty version of that annoying kid you used to want to throw into a deep bottomless well,' her mind replied and she silently agreed.

Naruto's eyes flicked onto Ino and you could almost hear the evil laughter echoing in his head.

"Ino you look so different, God, the changes three years can bring eh?" A predatory smirk quirked on Naruto's lips as he moved closer to the blonde. His eyes flicked over her body and his smirk widened. "They're bigger," he stated with the utmost seriousness, his eyes lingering on her chest. Sakura's eyes widened and her jaw fell open and Ino's eyes became impossibly wide with shock. "Your muscles," he clarified softly, "Are bigger. You've been training Ino," he purred her name with his deep alto and he allowed one gloved hand to skim over her exposed shoulder.

Chouji took that moment to run up to the three shinobi. He smiled hugely and clapped Naruto's back with a huge hand. "Naruto, you're finally back."

"Yeah Chouji, nice to see you too," Naruto allowed his suggestive grip on Ino to become just a friendly touch but he blessed her with a sly wink and leered when she licked her suddenly dry lips. Chouji of course, noticed nothing.

"The Godaime sent me; she wants you to meet her in her office, Sakura."

"Hai, thank you Chouji-kun."

"I'll come with you; Tsunade-baa-chan needs to see me anyways."

Once the goodbyes had been said and Sakura and Naruto had walked a good distance away from Ino and Chouji, Sakura exploded into laughter, clutching her sides.

Naruto paused and blinked at her, cocking his head reminiscent of his twelve year old self. "Ne, Sakura-chan, what's so funny?"

Sakura wiped the tears spilling out of her eyes and managed to calm her explosive laughter into soft giggles. "I've never seen Ino look so surprised. Genma didn't do half of what you just attempted there honey, and she punched three of his teeth out."

He smirked, "its fun to mess around with her, and she's cute."

"As cute as Hinata?"

Naruto choked on his own spit, hacking and gagging as he bent double, bracing his hands on his knees.

Sakura whistled cheerfully and pretended not to notice the palest pink blush on Naruto's cheeks.

They fell into a comfortable silence walking close to each other, Naruto's arm slung casually around Sakura's shoulders.

"Ne, Naruto?"

He turned to his rosette haired teammate and found her green eyes to be filled with so much sadness he physically winced. "Hai Princess?" he smiled at her, that genuine smile he reserved for her and called her his favourite nickname.

"I'm glad you're home."

And then suddenly, she was sobbing, in the middle of the street, falling into his waiting arms as they both dropped to their knees and he was overwhelmed by the pain he felt for the girl he held in his arms. Sasuke had left her, he had also left her... twice and she had never once tried to stop him. She had smiled that hauntingly broken smile and put on a brave face for him. Because she wanted him to be happy. All she had ever wanted was the happiness of the ones she loved.

_The sixteen_ _year old slung his heavy bag onto his back, he grimaced at the weight and wondered belated if he should not have packed so many ramen packages. He smiled his huge corny grin, No such thing as too much ramen, the blonde thought as he walked out through the huge gates of Konoha._

"_Naruto!" _

"_Sakura-chan?"_

_She smiled, and jumped on top of his back, settling her legs around his waist and throwing her arms around his neck. His hands immediately grasped her thighs to keep her steady._

"_Piggyback Naruto," she said simply. He complied easily to her request, supporting her slight weight easily and slowly walking down the road._

"_So you're leaving," she whispered mostly to herself and he heard her unsaid words, 'just like Sasuke-kun.'_

"_Just for a little while Princess and then I'll bring back your Prince just like I promised, even if it kills me."_

_Suddenly he felt a kunai against his jugular, Sakura's eyes narrowed as she pressed the_ _blade tighter against his neck. He wondered when Sakura had gotten so fast, for now she stood facing him._

"_Saku-"_

"_Shut up," she hissed, cutting him off, her eyes flashing green fire._

"_But wh-"_

"_I said, shut up," she said through clenched teeth. "Naruto,_ _you complete and total idiot,_ _you mean the world to me and if you ever say anything like that again... I'll splatter your guts all over the floor. Do I make myself clear?_ _SHANNARO, I AM NOT OVEREACTING NARUTO! She screamed her final words as she read the look on his face._

_Naruto had gulped and nodded, relaxing as she withdrew her kunai and tossed it in the air, catching it skilfully in its holder._

_They continued to walk in a strained silence, unlike the usual comfortable ones they always shared. Naruto stopped at a bend in the road, "This is where I'm supposed to meet Ero-sennin."_

_She nodded and raised her hands to hold his head and pull it down so she could press a kiss to his forehead. "Be careful and don't get yourself killed," she said in a surprisingly unwavering voice._

_He nodded, "Same to you." He frowned as he looked at her with piercing blue eyes, more serious then the happy-go-lucky Naruto could ever be thought of being._

"_What's wrong?" she asked._

"_Just deciding what part of your huge forehead to bless with my lips," he smirked._

"_Naruto!"_

"_Joking, joking," he said softly, pressing his own kiss to her head. "I love you, sis."_

_She sighed contentedly, "Love you too."_

_And then he was gone._

_It was only hours later in the safety of the woods and that Sakura let herself cry._

Sakura loved the feeling of having Naruto's arms around her so protectively, and for the first time in a long time, she let herself relax. She had watched with sad eyes as Tenten, Ino and Hinata had traveled everywhere with their male teammates, watching as they grew closer and closer. Was that the kind of relationship she, Naruto and Sasuke would have had if Sasuke had never left? No, instinctively she knew the answer. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had always walked the thin line of love, hate and insanity. Friendship had never been a part of the equation. Sakura had gone from the disliking Naruto in her own immaturity and weakness to suddenly waking up one day to realize that she could not live without him. He was the closest family she and she knew he felt the exact same way about her, his childish love had transferred to brotherly love long ago.

In Sasuke's case she teetered between hate and insanity with just a little bit of love she couldn't seem to kill.

In Naruto's arms, it was all okay, because he was safe, he was home and she had forgotten the insane craving of nicotine that had been bugging her all day. She waited until her sobs had ebbed away and then she allowed herself to rest on his shoulder, breathe in his scent and revel in the first peace she had felt in a while. She had been strong and emotionless for so long that it felt amazing to just let go.

He had left to get stronger, after failing to retrieve Sasuke on that fateful day in Orochimaru's layer. In his arms, she could feel the raw power inside him, the strength behind those arms and the amazing control.

Three years.

He had been gone for three years for a second time.

And she'd be damned if she even let him attempt a third.

"Princess," Naruto breathed softly into her hair, "Why so many tears? What will your subjects think?"

"I'm overdue," the rosette-haired woman murmured, "I haven't really cried since the day you left." She smiled wryly, "Besides, it's a throwback to old, cry-baby useless Sakura; you won't see much of her anymore. I killed her Naruto, and she's gone for good."

Naruto cast the younger woman a look mixed with such love, worry, frustration and fierce protectiveness that she could not help but to give him one final squeeze before she got to her feet, pulling him with her.

"Tsunade-shishou is going to murder us, heal us and murder us again if we're any later," she smiled. "Lead the way, Mr. Hot Shot, unless you've forgotten the way," she laced her voice with teasing and light sarcasm.

He took the time to wipe the tear streaks tenderly from her eyes before allowing that arrogant smirk to curve once more onto his lips. "Don't worry Princess, I have a pornographic memory."

She tilted her head confused, "You mean photographic memory?"

His smirk got wider, "That too."

Her genuine laugh mingled with his as they once more resumed their walk to the Hokage's office, arms wrapped tightly around each other.

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Tempest: So what do you guys think? This fic will explore a lot of the moral issues in the Ninja world while dealing with the stigmata of Power. It will involve a lot of Team Seven friendship along with the bonds Sakura had formed with some of the others while Naruto was gone. Sasuke is gonna show up soon enough when Orochi-pedophile-maru decides to pop in (pretty soon).

And oh I need your help guys, I'm on the fence between a Hinata/Naruto pairing or a Ino/Naruto pairing. Whoever gets the most votes wins, cause I just can't seem to decide.

Remember to review my dears.

It inspires me.

YOU guys inspire me.


	2. Get Your Asses in Gear: Shika and Neji

**Awaken**

**Get Your Asses in Gear: Shikamaru and Neji**

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_"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to fall. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too..." - Friends Theme._

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"Sakura, Naruto you're an hour late," Tsunade's voice was as sharp as an ANBU katana. But her honeyed eyes were warm with affection for the two young adults in front of her. Her surrogate daughter and surrogate little brother. Sakura's eyes danced with genuine joy for the first time in a while, she seemed to glow with happiness.

Tsunade's narrowed eyes could see the hidden remains of the funeral of tears that had marched across her cheeks, following a slow, painful track.

"Sorry Tsunade-baa-chan, we got a little distracted."

"Hai, sorry Tsunade-shishou, you don't spend years with Kaka-sensei to not pick up some of his bad habits."

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Miles away, attached to the ceiling like a spider; Kakashi listened to a secret meeting of Mist officials. He easily channelled chakra into his feet and hands and stayed as quiet as a mouse, after all he wasn't the great Copy-nin for nothing.

He sneezed.

'Oh shit.'

Thirteen pairs of malicious eyes flicked to the ceiling.

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Tsunade hid her smile behind interlaced fingers, elbows braced on the table, leaning causally back on one side of her comfortable Hokage chair.

"Sakura, you have a mission," she flicked blonde hair out of her eyes, and narrowed her gaze on her apprentice. "Simple but mandatory," she sighed heavily, "I wish I could send another medic with you but I can't spare any. You're second only to me in skill, so I have full confidence you can complete this on your own."

"Hai, Tsunade-shishou."

"A small weapon-makers village on the border of Mist has experienced a fire and has had many of their important scrolls stolen. Many civilians are wounded and they suspect Akatsuki is involved. Simply heal the worst of it, arm them with some knowledge of the medicine they need to deal with the burns and ascertain if it was indeed the Akatsuki, what it is they stole and why."

"You may take two shinobi of your choice to help with this mission, any who are free and are not currently dispatched," she observed as the two young ninjas exchanged glances and opened their mouths at the same time. "No, not Naruto, I have need of him here."

She watched the twin pouts cross their faces and almost laughed. "Choose your team, Sakura," she offered her student a clipboard of names.

Sakura did not even glance at the sheet, instead flicking pleading eyes up to Tsunade's.

"Can I have Neji and Shikamaru?"

"Two high-ranking ANBU along with yourself?" Tsunade sighed, "That may be overkill but I have no need of them right now. Hai, tell them of the mission, you set out at six tonight. And go in full uniform, this is an S-ranked mission if Akatsuki is involved but I do think the weapons village is overreacting."

Sakura frowned at the clock, which gave her three hours to pack and prepare. She bowed her head in respect and blew the Godaime a kiss. "Later Tsunade-shishou, take care of yourself and you Foxy," Naruto rolled his eyes at the nickname and leant to press a kiss to her forehead as she circled her arms tightly around him.

"Take care Princess."

"Bye Ero-sennin," Jiraiya almost face-faulted from his place in the shadows as Sakura waved nonchalantly at the pervert. She had easily seen through the cloaking genjutsu he had cast to hide his presence.

"ERO-SENNIN, when did you get here?!" Naruto sweat-dropped and face faulted.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at Tsunade, ignoring his loud apprentice, as Sakura breezed out of the office, giggling softy, "She saw through my extremely high level genjutsu."

"What can I say," Tsunade leant back in her comfy Hokage chair with her arms nestled comfortably behind her head, "She _is_ my student after all."

Jiraiya ogled her exposed cleavage and a thin line a drool slid down the corner of his mouth before a large stapler hit him square in the forehead. "Just what we need," he murmured as he slid to the ground, eyes going swirly, "Another generation of beautiful, freakishly smart and strong little Tsunades."

xxxxxx

"Neji, stop hiding, I know you're out here, I can feel your chakra..."

Sakura frowned and kept searching the area outside the Hyuuga household.

"Aha! OhMyGodStopEatingTenten'sFaceNejiEw." She had pulled away a large bush to see the couple entangled in the soft, shadowy grass.

Neji rolled his eyes and gave Sakura a pointed 'jeeze-do-you-ever-have-the-worst-timing-and-if-I-didn't-value-your-skills-as-a-kunoichi-you'd-be-a-melted-puddle-of-Sakura-on-the-floor-right-now' look before lowering his lips to Tenten's neck and placing fiery little kisses along the column of her throat.

Tenten cracked open one eye and looked over her boyfriends shoulder to give Sakura a helpless, apologetic and slightly embarrassed look. She opened her mouth to say something but it came out as a soft, breathy moan as the Hyuuga sucked gently on her pulse.

"Well Sakura, don't you have someplace to be?" Neji's voice was edged with annoyance.

"Nope, I'm fine right here," Sakura grinned like the Cheshire cat and settled herself in the sun-warmed grass. 'Oh god Kaka-sensei,' she thought with a groan, 'your perverted tendencies are starting to be contagious.'

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Just as he was about to slam his kunai into the neck of the last Mist Nin, Kakashi had the dreadful urge to...

"ACHOO."

Somehow, through sheer force, his snot managed to cut past the six layers of masks he had on and splattered in his opponent's eyes.

"Ah! It burns," the Mist Nin screamed in agony and ran in blind rage towards his opponent. Kakashi merely side-steeped and watched as the unfortunate shinobi ran right into the concrete wall...

And fainted.

'How... awkward.'

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"Okay Sakura, what is it you wanted," the annoyance was slowly disappearing to be replaced with curiosity.

"I want you, hard, slow, and fast, gentle, against a tree, bent over a rock," she winked and Neji raised an exasperated eyebrow while Tenten smothered a laugh in his expense.

"Joking Mr. Open Anus Insert Stick," she watched Neji give an involuntary twitch at that comment. There was nothing she loved more than watching Neji twitch. It gave her sad life strange meaning if she could annoy the stoic prodigy to the point of bashing his head against a wall.

She threw a sideways glance at Tenten and winked at her flustered friend, "Tenten, your shirt is inside out..." she laughed as Tenten turned a lovely shade of chartreuse.

"Seriously Sakura," Neji sounded slightly amused, he was not embarrassed of his situation, just annoyed... and horny.

"Hai, Hai, Hyuuga_-sama_, I'm getting to it," she pulled out a mission scroll and tossed it to the man across from her. "Two and a half hours and counting," She said, determining the time from the angle of the sun and shadow length.

"Who else," Neji asked as he scanned the scroll in his usual systematic, thorough way.

"Shika's coming too."

"Oh joy."

Sakura smirked at Neji's sarcasm before rising fluidly to her feet. "By the way Neji, Naruto's back in town," her smirk widened as his eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

"He's in the Hokage's office," she started walking away from the Hyuuga, waving at him over her shoulder, "Later Neji, I'll see you at the gates at six."

"Bye Sakura!"

"Bye Tenten," she blew a kiss over her shoulder at her friend. Though she longed to sit Tenten down and get all the juicy little details on what exactly had led to the little tryst behind the bush. Neji and Tenten were just the perfect fix to her gossip craving.

"Oh and Neji," she turned her head and saw him acknowledge her question with a slight nod. "If Tenten is missing a chunk of her cheek from... overzealous use of teeth next time I see her, I'll hold you fully accountable."

Sakura laughed as she heard the Hyuuga prodigy growl softly in annoyance and Tenten muffle her laughter into her palm.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru closed his eyes as he tried to ignore that voice disturbing his lazy lie on the grass. He was enjoying his cloud watching way too much for such a troublesome interruption.

"Ne, Shika, whatcha doing'?"

Shikamaru cracked open one dark eye to see the pink-haired shinobi standing over him, her hands on her hips and a mischievous grin on her lips.

"Cloud watching," he murmured closing his eyes, hoping Sakura would get the message. Sakura merely scowled at being dismissed and decided to mess with her friend's head.

"Temari-chan!" Sakura's voice rang out, surprised but happy, "It's so nice to see you Temari-chan; you're back from Suna already!"

With a start, Shikamaru was up on his feet scanning the empty training ground for any sight of his blond haired, blue eyed girlfriend.

A smothered laugh drew his attention as his narrowed eyes flicked back to the viridian eyed jounin, currently shaking with laughter. He sighed loudly and cocked one eyebrow at his friend.

"Sakura, gain some maturity please."

"Shikamaru, pull that porcupine out of your ass please."

"Troublesome."

"Lazy."

"Annoying."

"Annoying-er."

"That's not a word."

"So, what's your point?"

Shikamaru sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, his lips straining as he struggled not to let them quirk into a smile. Over the last few years he had grown unbelievably close with this woman. She was intelligent and he found he was able to hold a proper conversation with her about all sorts of things. She had also become his smoking buddy, and it was strangely comforting to have one more person on his side. Especially while warding off the angry mob that screamed 'SMOKING WILL KEEEEEEL YOU' every time he tried to light his cancer-stick... well just Ino, but Ino was classified as an angry mob all on her own. "So what do you want?"

"Mission," she said, throwing him a scroll. "I've got to take a shower. I'll see you at six at the Konoha gates mmkay?"

She pressed her pointer and middle fingers to her lips and tapped his nose lightly with them in what had become a strange tradition between her and the lazy shinobi. His eyes glazed over slightly as he watched her leave and then lay back down on the soft grass, thinking back to one of his first ANBU missions.

"_Sakura, wake up Sakura."_

_The rain disguised the bittersweet tears that spilled down his cheeks and washed the dirt and blood off his face._

_There she lay, limp in his arms like a broken doll._ _A beautiful, broken doll, painted red._

_It was supposed to be a simple mission but he had made a mistake, he had miscalculated by the tiniest bit. The smallest error on his part had nearly killed them both._

_He had never regretted anything more in his life._

_Ambushed._

_He should have_ _seen it coming a mile away. His analytical mind should have examined the possibilities and been on alert and wary of danger. But they had relaxed after they had passed the border into fire country. _

_**He**_ _had relaxed._

_Shinobi were __**never **__supposed to relax._

_The seventeen year old boy brushed tangled pink locks out of her pale face, his hand cupping her clammy cheek gently._

"_Sakura, please, I'm supposed to be the lazy one. Wake up, please wake up."_

_His other hand hovered over the long katana thrust into her stomach._

_There was so much blood._

_He winced as he shifted his broken leg to bring her nearer to him, his ribs protesting as he drew her as close as possible, sharing his body heat with her cold body._

_So cold... why was she so cold?_

"_Sakura no, don't leave me, you can't leave me," he shielded her from the rain but he couldn't shield her from his tears, he squeezed his eyes shut and drew her closer still._ _She looked so_ _broken in his arms; her long pink hair trailing in the mud, bruises littered her skin and blood dripped into her eyes from a long cut above her eyebrow._

"_S-Shika..."_

_One green eye_ _cracked open, glazed with hazy delirium and unawareness. _

"_Don't b-be... such a c-cry b-baby Shika, I just n-need a-a nap," her lips curled into a small, teasing smile, before she let her eyes flutter shut._

_He could feel it, she was on the verge of two worlds and he'd be damned if he let her think she could die now._

"_No Sakura, you can't go!"_

"_S-silly Shika, I'm... not... g-going anywhere, I j-just need a nap, I'm so t-tired."_

_Shikamaru started to feel white hot panic fill his being, all consuming and painful. "No, wake-up Sakura, I can't let you sleep."_

_The dying girl managed to give him a sleepy glare, "W-why... not?"_

_He searched his mind frantically, anything,_ _absolutely_ _anything to keep her awake_

"_I've never had my first kiss."_

_Open mouth insert foot. Great thing to say to a dying girl there, yup Shikamaru, real smooth._

_The said dying girl fixed Shikamaru with an_ '_if-i-wasn't-so-flipping-tired-right-now-then-I-would-indeed-be-laughing-my-ass-off-like-a-crazy-person' look._

_Sakura tried to sit up and_ _let out muffled curse as she noticed the katana sticking out of her abdomen. The hazy unawareness and delirium faded away from her face. He watched as her eyes snapped wide in surprise but there was a disconcerting calm reflecting in her now lucid green orbs._ _He straightened his back slightly as the woman in his lap reached down to grasp the handle of the katana. Slowly, she pulled it out of her stomach;_ _it made a slick, wet sound as it slid out of her flesh, followed by a rush of warm blood spilling over everything. He watched her steel her features and was shocked when no pain crossed across her face._

_The brown-haired shinobi swiftly shrugged out of his vest and slipped off his shirt, folding it four times before pressing to her gushing wound. He watched as pale green chakra surrounded the wound and started the healing process;_ _it wavered and flickered, like a dying candle._

"_What's wrong Sakura?"_

"_N-not enough c-chakra," she murmured through clenched teeth._

"_Take mine," he said without any_ _hesitation, placing his fingertips lightly on her temples_

"_B-but Shika, y-you're hurt." He watched her trained eyes take in his broken leg, the way he held his ribs gingerly and the cracked right cheekbone that had already swelled puffy black._

"_Shut up Sakura," he gathered his light blue chakra in his hands and began to channel it into her_ _and he smiled through his exhaustion as he watched the faint __green glow surrounding her wound become bright. He was so tired and he was depleting_ _his chakra to a critical point. Five minutes later, and though the wound still looked deep and nastily painful, it was no longer life-threatening._

_Shikamaru collapsed_ _flat_ _onto the ground next to Sakura, his breathing coming heavy and laboured but he managed to smile at the exhausted kunoichi beside him. She smiled back_ _and he saw her eyes soften to molten emeralds. He circled his arms protectively around her, sharing his body heat as the rain continued to pelt them._

_There was certain new closeness around them;_ _sharing chakra was an intimate experience. To have another person's energy enter you is the ultimate show of trust, Shikamaru could have easily of stopped her breathing or mangled her heart with his energy._ _But he would never, and she trusted him not to._ _He felt fiercely protective of his female friend, feelings he had only felt before for Ino._

"_Shika?"_

_Her hesitant voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he snapped his eyes back into focus, raising an eyebrow at her question._

_He watched as she simply pressed a kiss to her pointer and middle finger before tapping him lightly on his nose. He watched the teasing light fill her bright, green eyes._

"_Not as good as a real kiss but it will have to tide you over for now,_" _she smiled mischievously, "Temari-chan would kill me if I stole your first kiss."_

_He blushed lightly, "Troublesome woman," he murmured as he watched her laugh softly._

_The two teenagers drifted to sleep in each other's arms, the rain never ceasing its pounding rhythm, washing away the sweat, dirt and blood from their faces and clothes._

_That's how the ANBU team found them in the morning, twin smiles of contentment of their faces, surrounded with the bodies of thirty dead stone Nins._

_'I'll always protect you, Sakura.'_

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A/N: Shikamaru is the shit. He's just too facking sick for words. So is Neji, like jeeze how many characters can I be in love with at once. I hope you enjoyed your little but of sexy-time there Neji, cause you ain't getting any in a while.

Thank you so much reviewers! And the secondary pairing will be Hinata/Naruto (they're such a cute grade 3 romance) due to popular demand... and some death threats... cough. O-o

Are you guys opposed to a Ino/Sai pairing? If so let me know and I'll hook her up with Kakashi-sensei... lmfao I'm so sadistic.

It's up to you my lovely reviewers!

- Caustic Tempest.


	3. An Unlikely Meeting

A/N: For the purposes of this fanfiction, I'm changing what happened in the real Naruto Universe.

1. After the scene with Sasuke at Orochimaru's base with Sakura, Naruto, Sai and Yamato, Naruto left for training with Jiraiya at age 16.

2. Itachi became ANBU at age 11 but the Uchiha Massacre still occurred when he was 13 and Sasuke was 8.

3. Sakura took the Jounin test right after Naruto left and applied for ANBU soon after.

There may be more but I'll keep you guys posted.

**An Unlikely Meeting**

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"_And I don't want the the world to see me, cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am." -Iris, Goo Goo Dolls_

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After a scalding hot shower, Sakura felt amazingly relaxed and at peace. She sighed as she stared at her steamy reflection in the mirror. All was right with the world, Naruto was home again where he belonged and that's all that mattered.

Sakura frowned as she remembered the time Naruto had returned from his fight with Sasuke covered in bandages. She had urged him to retrieve Sasuke at any cost and had not once thought of Naruto's well-being. Throwing thoughts of her stupid younger self aside, Sakura threw the towel covering her body and the one wrapped around her bright, rose-tinted locks into the hamper.

She pulled on her uniform easily, slipping into her second skin. After adjusting her tight, black pants and teasing her white vest into position, she smirked at her reflection and started to twist her hair into a restraining bun. She finished strapping on her katana, shuriken pouches, boots and through on her dark cloak and stark, white mask.

Haruno Sakura, 3rd ranked ANBU Captain in all of Konoha was ready for anything.

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Neji and Shikamaru reached the gates within one minute of each other. They exchanged nods as greetings and removed their hoods and masks as soon as they were cast in shadow. It was too unbearably hot for a big, heavy cloak but both shinobi managed to look comfortably cool.

Shikamaru immediately took notice of the Hyuuga's usually perfect hair, slightly disheveled and a light red smudge that looked very much like lipstick was smeared along his neck.

"Enjoyed yourself," Shikamaru said with a smirk.

Neji nodded darkly, not in the least embarrassed, "Until I was interrupted."

Shikamaru knew too well by the half-annoyed and half-exasperated look on Neji's face that that was not the only problem. Only Sakura could put that look onto the Hyuuga's face. "What did she say to you?" Sakura just delighted in forcing the emotion-challenged Hyuuga into showing more than his standard, one-look-fits-all-occasions expression.

Was it just Shikamaru's imagination or did Neji just... twitch?

"She referred to me as 'Mr. Open Anus Insert Stick.'"

Shikamaru stared blankly at the dark haired man before him.

"Pardon?"

The Hyuuga prodigy frowned, "I do not understand, is she calling me cold and unresponsive or is she hinting that... I have homosexual tendencies?"

Shikamaru leveled another blank look at his teammate. Years of training and many high-risk missions were the only reason he wasn't doubled over laughing right now.

Instead he made a strange half-coughing, half-choking, half-retching sound in the back of his throat earning him a caustic glare from Neji.

"Hey Neji, Hey Shika."

The stoic Hyuuga leveled his pink-haired teammate with a blasé look and an elegantly arched eyebrow. While the lazy genius managed to get his emotions under control and tipped his head slightly in her direction. She removed her hood and turned her mask to the side, smiling cheerfully at her friends. She threw a discreet wink at Neji just to see his eyes narrow in anger and suspicion at her action.

Did she mention that bothering Neji was one of the one pure joys she could not live without?

The three ANBU quickly agreed on their strategy and formation and set off easily and nimbly through the trees towards their destination. They worked well as one extremely efficient unit, with Neji at front center and Sakura slightly behind to his right and Shikamaru mirroring Sakura's position but to the left. Eight straight hours of monotonous traveling later, Sakura made a small gesture with her left hand and all three immediately halted and leapt to the ground.

"What is it Sakura?" Neji asked as the smiling, pink-haired jounin discarded her mask and reached into the pocket of her cloak, "Need a break already?"

"It's past two in the morning," she frowned lightly, "I say we catch a little shut-eye and then continue onwards. Is five hours enough for you two?" The two shinobi nodded, five hours was more than enough to refresh the small amount of chakra they Had expended traveling.

They quickly set up camp, which consisted of their cloaks serving as blankets and their bags serving as pillows. They chewed on some nourishing food bars, Sakura's own creation, a perfect balance of carbs, protein and fat. Though she did not have the taste thing down. She had tried to make them cherry almond flavour but the managed to retain the strange taste of mothballs that she couldn't get rid of.

Sakura irritably threw her half-eaten bar into the woods and huffed, reaching into her bag and rummaging through its contents.

"What's got your panties in a knot?" Shikamaru leaned back against his tree and watched her with interest.

"Nicotine craving," she sucked idly on two cigarettes as she lit them both, giving one to Shikamaru, who nodded his thanks.

"Want a fag, Neji?" She smirked and watched his eyes narrow at the subtle quip.

"I have no need for a disgusting habit that shortens lifespan and kills brain cells."

Sakura snorted and leant against a tree, savouring the smooth smoke tainting her lungs. "We're shinobi Neji and ANBU at that. The chances are good we won't live to see twenty-five. And as for brain cells, Shika and I both have some to spare."

The lazy genius expertly let out a stream of smoke through his nostrils and muttered something about 'troublesome woman' and 'lack of brain cells' under his breath.

"You have so little faith in your own skills, Sakura," Neji intentionally goaded her, "Is twenty-five as long as you believe you'll last?"

"Of course not, Hyuuga-_sama_" she said with acidic sweetness. "I just have so little faith in this world, in this country, in this time." She sighed and flipped jaded jade eyes to meet with narrowed white. "We live in a world in which we teach children to become killers. We take young innocents and bathe them in blood."

"So you question our institutions?"

"Yes, but at the same time I know they are necessary for the survival of this world," an ironic twist to her lips, "God knows what all the hot headed idiots that know how to perform a jutsu or can swing a katana would do if faced with peace."

"So Sakura, wasn't that your goal when you first joined ANBU, peace for all the Elemental countries, especially Fire Country and Konoha?" Shikamaru joined in on the interesting conversation.

"I've grown up Shikamaru, I've lived in the real world long enough to realize we do not fight for peace. We fight for money and power, we fight for supremacy in a dog eat dog world. We fight because peace was never meant to be achieved, because to fight for peace would be the same hypocrisy as fucking for virginity. In this world made for shinobi, by shinobi, there will always be the need for shinobi and therefore killing, maiming, destroying, burning etcetera."

A strange silence followed her monotone words, the two men watched the pink-haired woman with rapt interest and concern.

"What happened, Sakura?" Shikamaru asked, watching her take another long drag of her cigarette and mimicking her action.

"To what?" she took one last short puff and flicked the remnants of her cancer-stick onto the forest floor and ground her heel into the smoldering embers. She knew what he was doing, trying to catch her off-guard with this question. It was one he subtly brought up every once in a while. But she always shot him down with a vague topic change or just a bitchy comment.

She excelled at being bitchy.

"You changed so suddenly three years ago, I've always tried to get the answer out of you... but it seemed like a my efforts have been wasted. What changed your romantic view on the world? That ingrained belief you had that good always won over evil? You were always so fixed on that theory and it seems overnight you hardened like stone. What stole you innocence, Sakura?"

"As ANBU we see things that no one should see," she smiled bitterly. "I envy anyone in our position that can keep their innocence," she paused thoughtfully, "and pity them." She narrowed her eyes to sad slits and clenched her hands into tight balls, not noticing her nails had gouged bleeding slits into her skin.

There was something so angry and melancholy in her gaze that it made the Hyuuga draw back. He had to admit he did care for the girl in front of him in his own way. She was strong and a pleasure to spar with, her sharp mind and insane strength always kept him guessing. She was also engaging and interesting, something he found lacking in many people. The three of them, Sakura, Shikamaru and himself had formed a loose team after becoming ANBU with Sai as their leader. Though they had all excelled and become captains in their own right, the four of them still held a certain bond.

"You are not answering his question, Sakura," Neji stated softly.

"Why should I Neji? It was a long time ago and it's definitely not affecting my performance." The rosette haired woman said with vehemence.

"Maybe it's because we care," Shikamaru idly lit a new cigarette, "And you have a past record of letting these things eat you up on the inside."

"Holding troubling thoughts inside is not beneficial to you," Neji agreed.

"Can we talk about this later, boys? We've got to sleep and regain our strength," it warmed her to know that her boys cared for her but she could not quell the irritability that burned inside of her at their incessant questions.

It was strange how she thought of Shikamaru and Neji as her 'boys'. Long ago, only Naruto and Sasuke had earned the honour of the name. But then Sai had come into the equation and even though he made her want to splatter his brains all over the walls, she had learnt to love him all the same. The next to join the list was Kakashi, he had slowly made the transition in her mind from superior to equal until his title 'Kaka-sensei' was nothing more than an affectionate nickname. Shikamaru and Neji had wormed their way into her heart without her even realizing...

Sakura and Neji settled down to sleep, while Shikamaru took first watch.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Sakura sighed as she blocked the kick with her forearm, grabbing the offending appendage and flinging her adversary into a nearby tree with her monstrous strength._

_This was getting boring._

"_Kaze no Yaiba!"_

_Sakura barely escaped the cutting wind jutsu, jumping away with minimal grace and landing in a crouch, her fingertips splayed for balance._

"_Hmm you're good."_

_His voice was cocky as he leaned against a tree, watching as she rose gracefully to full height. She narrowed her eyes, analyzing him from his voice and body type and build as male, 18-22 with jounin level skills. His face was covered by dull grey mask that left an open stripe for his eyes._

_She sighed again, she had no time for this, she had to knock him out quickly and get back to Konoha with the important scroll she carried. With that in mind she made quick hand seals, powering up her hands with medical chakra to form a powerful scalpel. _

_He charged at her, his katana unsheathed, glimmering dully in the dim light. He thrust sharply at her abdomen, ducking under her defenses but she easily caught the blade between her hands. He pulled it away quickly with a smooth flick of his wrist. He growled and thrust again only to have it stopped in much the same way. She jumped away with a hiss as the small amount of lightening chakra he had infused in the blade this time ran through her. _

_Damn it, she was getting really annoyed._

_She hated lightning._

_It had always belonged to Sasuke._

_She struck this time, aiming at a leg tendon with her glowing green hands but he skillfully sidestepped. He used her momentum against her as it created an opening._

_Damn, she almost screamed as a stronger jolt of lightening rushed through her body, he had nicked her shoulder with that fucking sword._

_She looked up to see a smirk dancing in his eyes and suddenly all rational thought fled._ _It wasn't that he had wounded her, no she had been hurt much worst in the past. It was something stronger, deeper... carnal and instinctual._

_A heavy red haze fell over her vision as she ripped the katana from his grasp moving so swiftly he could not see her and shoved it through his ribs. _

_His eyes grew impossibly wide as he coughed blood onto her face. She could taste the metallic edge of his life-source on her lips and it tasted good. _

_And suddenly her knees trembled as she looked upon the face of this dying boy, a boy she had condemned to death. Her hands trembled, still holding onto the handle of the death-weapon. Her breathing harsh and echoing in her own ears._

_He fell and she caught him. He coughed again,_ _a dry, hacking sound that suddenly sounded louder than a million thunderstorms. She frantically formed the hand seals and healing chakra flowed freely from her hands._

_It was too late._

_Too much lost blood._

_Too much nerve_ _trauma._

_Too much damage to the heart._

_Too much._

_Too much._

_**Too much.**_

_Sakura couldn't form the scream in her throat. Her eyes remained dry as her tears seemed to desert her. All she could see was his eyes, blue and bottomless._

_Like Naruto's._

_Oh god, she could feel the bile rise high in her throat, thick and heavy. She moved backwards from the now dead boy, putting as much distance between her and the corpse as possible. She knelt and dry heaved and the world spun before she fell into the refuge of inky blackness, her own screams echoing in her mind._

_XXXXXXXXXX_

"Sakura, wake up!"

Shikamaru took the girl by her shoulders and shook her gently.

"Sakura, it's just a nightmare, wake up!"

Dead green eyes slowly opened to meet his wide brown ones. He pulled back slightly, withdrawing his hands as he took in her cold, set features.

"Sakura, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," the girl said in a soft whisper, "Unlike him."

"What are you talking about, Sakura?" Shikamaru asked softly, not at all ready for the girl's next words.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?'!" Her eyes took on a fevered glow as she jumped to her feet. "I KILLED HIM SHIKAMARU! I STABBED A FUCKING KATANA IN HIS HEART!"

Shikamaru drew back and exchanged shocked glances with the wakened Hyuuga. The genius remembered her nightmarish screams and deduced what was most likely going on.

"Sakura, whoever you were dreaming about... I'm sure it was a kill or be killed situation. You're a shinobi; killing is part of the job description."

"No, I killed him because I lost control, because I was angry," her words softened to a pained whisper, "I could have knocked him out, I could have just left him and been on my way but I just... I just... saw red."

"He looked to be about eighteen. He probably had a family, a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, all waiting for him to come home," a bitter laugh exited her throat. "But I stole him away from them, away from the world. He could have grown up to be someone great, a peacekeeper, the one to unite our broken world. I'm a monster, a fucking monster."

"And you know what?" a strangled laugh sticking in her throat, "I enjoyed it, the warm blood on my hands, the pain in his eyes, everything. It felt amazing, the adrenaline rushing through my system, this rush of power I just can't explain. That's not normal is it Shikamaru? Neji?"

The strong ANBU captain fell to her knees, a silent tremor shaking her body.

"He had Naruto's eyes."

Her eyes narrowed as she wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them into her chest.

"And his blood tasted like tomatoes."

Shikamaru and Neji watched the girl they considered a sister break like glass before their eyes.

She was too proud to cry, too proud to ask for comfort. Instead, they gave it freely, crawling over to where she sat shaking and settling on either side on her. Neji took her right hand and Shikamaru took her left and that was how they remained.

Until the sun rose bloody in the east.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ne, Shikamaru?"

The sun had not yet risen but the first golden rays were already lightening the horizon.

The brown-eyed jounin eyed Sakura tenderly but warily. He allowed a small smile to touch his lips for her sake.

"Yeah."

"Aren't you a little young to have a receding hairline?"

Neji coughed into his sleeve as Shikamaru's eyebrow began to twitch. 'Well at least she's back to normal.'

The pink-haired woman adjusted her vest and tightened the black bandages wrapped around her shins.

"Are you guys ready, or are we going to sit here all day?" She asked playfully, rising to her feet and throwing her cloak over her shoulders.

Neji and Shikamaru exchanged exasperated glances as she bounced about like a ball of pink sunshine. She shoved nutrition bars into their hands and made sure they consumed them completely. She then proceeded to force feed both of them three different types of multi-vitamins while cheerfully insisting 'Calcium deficiency is a ninja's worst enemy.' They took the torture quietly though, understanding that this was her way to deal with exposing her secrets to them. She felt naked and now she was trying to clothe herself in a happy facade.

Ten minutes later they set off, mere blurs to the average eye as they sped into the sunrise.

They were getting closer to the border village judging from the way the terrain was changing and the air was becoming heavier.

Suddenly, Neji faltered lightly in his stepping, so subtly that no one but the well trained would have been able to catch it. Shikamaru and Sakura gazed curiously at him tense his whole body. He signalled them to stop and activated his Byakugan. His teammates watched raised their eyebrows through their masks at him as he surveyed their surroundings suspiciously.

"My my, what do we have here Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura froze, her eyes narrowing as the slick voice grated against her ears. She cast her gaze around desperately but the voice seemed to be coming from every direction at once.

"Why, it's the pretty little cherry blossom and her little teammates! What a pleasant surprise, indeed! What do you say Sasuke-kun, do you want to stay and play with your old friends?"

She whirled around, trying desperately to locate the elusive chakra of the Snake-Sannin, to find herself staring into the dark eyes of a smirking Sasuke.

_'Holy shit.'_

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Poor Sakura, she never gets a break. XD


	4. Snakes and Ladders

**Snakes and Ladders**

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"_I admit that I'm just a fool for you, I'm just a fool for you..."- A Boy Brushed Red _**_Underoath_**

XXXXXXXXXX

_She whirled around, trying desperately to locate the elusive chakra, to find herself staring into the dark eyes of a smirking Sasuke._

XXXXXXXXX

Orochimaru stood beside Sasuke, resting casually against a tree. He lifted his hand and gracefully slashed it through the air. It almost seemed like a useless gesture... until her ANBU cat mask fell from her face in three large pieces. She drew back surprised; he had dispatched it from ten meters away.

"There now my dear, it's rude to wear masks in civilized company."

"Orochimaru-_san_, I do not see this civilized company of which you speak," she said in her fake, honeyed tone. Her eyes stayed fixed and narrowed on Sasuke's form.

"Oh I see, so the kitten has grown into a Tigress, how amusing. Tell me Sakura, are you still pining away for Sasuke-kun?"

She snapped, "Don't fucking say my name, you sick snake bastard!" she growled, throwing a handful of kunai at the aforementioned man. To her surprise, Sasuke appeared within touching distance of her, her kunai easily caught in his hands.

"Your fight is with me, Sakura."

She caught her breath as he stared her down, his eyes glittering maliciously like faceted onyx.

And then it began.

He slashed at her abdomen with one of her stolen kunai, forcing her to do a back flip off her branch and land easily on her feet on the ground. He tossed the rest of her kunai back at her and she caught them by the rings on her fingers, twirling them expertly into the air before catching them in her weapons pouch. She swiftly undid the catches of her cloak, letting it fall to the ground as she slid into another defensive position.

XXXXXXXX

Shikamaru tensed his body to jump off the branch and help his friend against the traitor Uchiha.

"Shikamaru, we have more important things to worry about," Neji's sharp voice cut through his thoughts. The tactical genius straightened into a defensive position and nodded, he had faith in Sakura's skills as one of the strongest kunoichi in Konoha. He smiled grimly under his bear mask as he allowed his mind to run free, strategies and possible escape plans blooming like jasmine in his mind's eye. The Snake-son-of-a-bitch was going down, preferably to the seventh level of hell.

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Sakura caught the strong punch he threw her way and shoved him backwards with her incredible strength, catching him in his stomach with a flying kick.

She heard the breath leave his body in a strong puff of air as he flipped backwards before he crashed and used the tree behind him as leverage as came at her once more.

"Sakura," he breathed her name like a soft, wintry caress and she faltered, enough for him to manage to grab her arm and shove her against a tree, front first. He twisted her arms behind her back and pressed her roughly into the scratchy bark. His lips ghosted over her exposed neck as she struggled in his grasp, "You've grown so beautiful, Sakura."

"Oh Sasuke-kun, don't do this. You know I still love you more than anything."

She felt his large smirk against her neck and his grip loosened slightly on her arms.

"Don't fuck with me," she ripped her arms out of grip and reversed their position, shoving him into the rough expanse of bark, "Kabuto."

She heard his surprised gasp and smiled, "Did you think I didn't see past your pitiful little genjutsu," she tapped his shoulder lightly with her index finger, dispelling the illusion. She felt the now silver haired man in her grasp tense tightly. "So Kabuto, what is it that you wanted?" She tied his wrists with pure chakra rope and then spun him around and pushed him to the ground as she wound another thick chakra rope around his middle, securing him to the tree. He glared up at her with his bespectacled eyes, his lips narrowing into a thin line.

"It's not what I want; it's about what Orochimaru-sama wants."

"And what does Orochimaru want?" She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the sound-nin in front of her.

She watched fuming as his eyes slowly trailed her from head to toe, a smirk glowing on his face.

"Tell me Kabuto, what does he want?"

"You know," Kabuto said, ignoring her question, "I've always prefered exotic lovers. But I've never had a natural pink-haired woman before, you'll be my first. Oh well, you will be if the carpet matches the drapes."

"Well, I guess Orochimaru can be classified as 'exotic' looking," she smirked at him, loving the way his smirk turned into a scowl and his eyes grew dark with anger. She purposely ignored his other comment, slightly creeped out by the way his eyes lingered over her body.

"The day will come when I will have you tied to my bed, begging for my touch, you bitch," he hissed.

She laughed and pasted a big fake grin onto her lips. She knelt down to his level and looked his straight in the eyes. "You wish," she formed a fist and slammed it into his cheek, loving the satisfying crack of the broken cheekbone. Rising to full height once more, she cast a disgusted look at Kabuto as he spit out a mouthful of blood. "So I'm going to ask you one more time, what does Orochimaru want?"

"Why don't you ask me yourself, my beauty?"

Sakura whirled around to lock surprised eyes with the snake-sannin. But she quickly schooled her gaze, letting disdain seep into her jade eyes instead.

"Tell me Orochimaru," she growled and he smiled darkly at her.

"My dear little blossom, please don't force me to break every bone in your pretty little face for disrespect towards your elders, you know better," his voice was disapproving and light, as if speaking to an unruly toddler.

"God, you PISS me off!"

She unsheathed her katana quickly with her right hand. She formed a denfensive position taught to her by Anko. Her right foot was forward while her left slid back, her weight centered easily between her feet. Her shoulders drew level while her sword arm was slightly bent at the elbow but her wrist remained straight, tip pointing at the snake-sannin.

"Aren't you just full of suprises, my pet," his mouth opened and the head of a snake slithered out. It in turn opened it's mouth to reveal a large, glinting sword. Orochimaru took the sword and copied her stance, swallowing the snake whole once more.

"You are just about the most disgusting thing I have ever seen," she growled, charging at the man. Her sword arching gracefully under his arm and then punting forward to jab him in the ribs.

Orochimaru flipped gracefully back to avoid the jab but he could not avoid the cut in his clothing from her skillful use of sword.

"My, my you certainly do use the 'Fanged Serpent' sword-technique amazingly well but you should remember that I created the technique."

He moved forward so fast, she almost lost sight of him, his sword jabbed forward, aiming for her stomach but he only managed a shallow cut before she skipped away slashing viciously at his throat.

The more experienced man ducked under her attack and through her guard managing a painful slice diagonally across her chest before skipping nimbly back, avoiding retaliation.

The quick paced fighting continued for several minutes more. Finally both paused, Orochimaru sporting a deep gash across his left bicep and a shallow cut on his cheek. Sakura on the other hand had a very deep gash on her left thigh, six slices into her stomach, a bleeding contusion in her head from the use of his hilt and her clothes were much worse for the wear, sporting many of slices.

"You're even better than Anko with my kenjutsu. What an interesting developement." He smiled maliciously at her.

"Anko-sensei is a good teacher and I still have a lot to learn from her," Sakura said, glaring angrily at the rouge Sannin in front of her. She took a deep breath and allowed a cold smile to grace her full lips, "Well you're pretty good yourself, considering you're a gender-confused asshole with a fetish for big snakes and twelve year olds."

The snake-sannin suddenly lunged foward aiming for her throat. She blocked but with incredible strength, he managed to dislodge the katana from her hand, sending it spinning into the trees. She flipped away, cursing like a sailor under her breath.

The angry rosette shinobi began to form quick seals when a punch to the temple sent her spiralling into a tree. Her head cracked against the rough bark and she fell in a graceless, crumpled heap. Kabuto cracked his knuckles and smiled at the fallen kunoichi.

"Never underestimate your enemies, Sakura-chan."

Sakura growled and rose slowly to her feet glaring at the two men in front of her.

Orochimaru smiled and walked towards her, dodging the shuriken aimed for his head. She reached into her holster to grab a kunai but he grabbed her wrist and forced it still. "You want to know what I want, little blossom?

He leaned in closer, unfurling his long, purple tongue to lick away a drop of blood trailing down her cheek.

"I want you."

Her eyes widened and narrowed to murderous green slits.

And he laughed grabbing her chin with his hand and bringing his lips precariously close to hers. She tried to cringe away but he held her steady, "I can taste your power," he whispered against her mouth.

Sakura struggled in his grasp, violently thrashing to get away from him.

"Oh do calm down, my flower, don't you want to see you beloved Sasuke-kun?"

"Shut the fuck up... you pube-muncher."

"Such dirty language," he laughed heartily as he traced her jaw with his long fingers, "Is not befitting of a lady." The snake-sannin backhanded her so hard, her head snapped back and stars exploded in front of her eyes. The blackness that had been threatening to overtake her finally consumed her. Her last thoughts were of fear for Shikamaru and Neji.

'Please be safe guys.'

And she knew no more.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru leaned against a tree, blood flowing nonstop from his wounded stomach. The genius stumbled and swayed dangerously, his vision spinning with black dots. He coughed into his hand, spraying the appendage with crimson liquid. Orochimaru was a fucking strong son of a bitch. He had barely gotten out of that trap in time, substituting a kage-bunshin just before the summoned snake had swallowed him whole. He had then hid his chakra level and decreased the chakra level of his clone until he let it flicker out, like dying person/

Neji, on the other hand, was unconscious with a katana sticking out of his thigh. He had been bitten by one of Orochimaru's poisonous snakes and was now shuddering and covered in cold sweat.

The two shinobi had fought bravely and had killed hundreds of the countless snakes Orochimaru had shot at them through his mouth, sleeves and other orifices that Shikamaru did not want to think about.

Orochimaru had left Neji to a slow painful death by poison and had assumed Shikamaru for dead. 'A mistake he will live to regret,' the genius thought.

He had to get back to Konoha, by this rate Neji would be dead in a few hours.

But where was Sakura?

He could not sense her chakra anymore in this area.

They had taken her.

The fury that built inside Shikamaru was uglier than that of a rearing snake. His fist clenched as he shut his eyes.

'I promised myself that I would always protect you. I swear on my life I will get you back.'

He had loved and lost before and it was not an experience he wished to repeat. She was family and family was not to be taken lightly in these deeply troubled times. And maybe, maybe if he got her back, the guilt he felt for failing Asuma would lighten just a little bit.

He knelt to sling the Hyuuga over his shoulder, noting that he was running a very high temperature. Shikamaru frowned and started slowly back to Konoha, his pace considerably slower and guilt and fear for one of his best friends in the world weighing heavy on his shoulders.

'I'll be back for you Sakura.'

XXXXXXXXXX

'Drip'

The pink-haired woman groaned in pain, her chapped lips cracking further.

'Drip'

She shivered violently; the ground under her was cold, hard, unyielding stone. Her head was killing her, pounding to the rhythm of that annoying dripping.

'Drip'

Green eyes opened with a soft grimace to examine her surroundings. It was pitch black so Sakura waited a minute until her trained eyes adjusted to the darkness. She was in a small, dungeon-like room, as dingy and dirty as the name suggested. Water dripped relentlessly from the ceiling, the annoying sound making her want to punch the wall. The exit was bared in the form of a heavy wood door with a little window covered in metal bars.

'Fucking pedophile had to be so cliché.'

She slowly sat up and massaged her sore neck, raising an eyebrow when her fingers came in contact with cool metal. Her fingers explored the thin band encircling her throat and she could feel the chakra radiating from it.

'Chakra suppression band,' she thought with annoyance and the smallest tinge of fear, 'this is going to make things a little harder.'

Slowly getting to her feet and ruefully rubbing a hand against her heavily bruised cheek. It seemed Kabuto had healed all her serious wounds but had left all her bruises intact. She approached the door, trying to peek out of the cell into the darkness beyond.

"Yo, I'm hungry, thirsty, and cold and need to piss really, really bad. Can someone please let me out of this crap hole?" she waited a minute for someone to approach but sighed when she realized the 'nice' approach wasn't working."

"OROCHIMARU YOU TWELVE-YEAR-OLD MOLESTER YOU BETTER FUCKING LET ME OUT OF HERE BEFORE I PERSONALLY CASTRATE YOU WITH MY CHAKRA SCALPEL!"

Ha, lets see them ignore that!

She watched as a flickering light appeared, slowly nearing her cell and she did a little happy dance in her head.

"The smartest little kunoichi in her class is not quite so intelligence anymore," the calm voice said softly and Kabuto came into view. "Isnt it one of the first rules you learn in ninja academy that you shouldnt provoke your captor?"

"Shut up, I dont need a lesson from a traitor that's getting it up the ass every night from a snake."

He laughed, such an oddly grating sound that she had to suppress the urge to cringe. "I healed all your major wounds, is that any way to repay me? It's not like you're in any position to be mouthing off."

He saw her hand unconsciously touch the metal band around her throat and smiled maliciously. "And guess what, thats not all it does." His hand formed a seal and he closed her eyes, whispering soft words that Sakura could not make out. Then suddenly, she felt an awful, ripping pain move through her body in waves, originating from the point of her collar. It was a cold, cutting type of pain, making her nerves scream and her bones feel as if they were twisting into pretzels.

She bit her lip fiercely, refusing to scream. Her back arching as her fingers clawed floor.

"Not screaming yet? I can fix that." Kabuto made a few more seals and metal band glowed green and pink unleasing an ungodly amount of pain into her system. A jagged scream was ripped from deep in her throat, laced with so much pain that even Kabuto winced slightly.

He released the seal, satisfied that with her pained scream and her heavy breathing. "Now I have a collar to keep you in line, my pet," he laughed as she growled venomously at him, her eyes glittering with hatred. "Just be glad Orochimaru wasn't here to hear you disrespect him or your punishment would have been much worse."

"Sleep tight, Sakura-chan."

And with that the pink-haired kunoichi was left alone in the darkness of her cell as the sound of Kabuto's laughter echoed hollowly in her ears.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Yosh! We have used our youthful fires to extract information about those Akatsuki! Konoha shines yonder like a beacon of youthfulness! My youthful student is burning with the passion of his youthfulness and awaiting his youthful sensei!"

Kakashi rubbed his fingers against his temple, trying desperately to dispel his terrible migraine. Why would Tsunade send Gai of all people with him on a stealth mission. Kakashi sighed, Tsunade just loved to torture him. Maybe it was payback for his chronic lateness.

"Oh Lee, how I miss you! My youthful charge, you have blossomed like a beautiful spring lotus-"

"Shut up Gai," Kakashi quickly cut off his teammate, kunai already in hand. He sensed two depleted chakra's ahead, one seemed close to flickering out but it could be a cleverly constructed trap.

Gai immediately steeled his features, his muscles tensed with power as he continued to jump through the trees with Kakashi at his side.

The smell of blood began to infuse the heated air as did the smell of sweat. Kakashi wrinkled his nose as he followed the mettalic-tinged trail. Two figures up ahead were moving slowly back in the direction of Konoha.

"Shikamaru, Neji?"

Shikamaru collaspsed onto his knees, breathing roughly, cushioning Neji with one arm while the other splayed across the ground to keep him from falling.

"Shikamaru, what happened?" Kakashi's voice was sharp but held a tinge of concern.

The dark-haired ANBU captain lifted his hazy brown eyes to meet Kakashi's single dark orb. "Orochimaru ambushed us."

Gai carefully took his ex-student from Shikamaru's grasp, laying him flat on the ground and carefully checking his vitals.

Kakashi knelt and wrapped an arm around Shikamaru's wavering shoulders to keep him steady. "What did he want?"

"What he already has..." Shikamaru's voice was edged with such dark bitterness and hate that Kakashi almost physically drew back, this was not characteristic of the lazy ninja he knew.

"And what is that?"

Shikamaru's head fell foward and his eyes were shadowed but Kakashi could see his fists clench into tight balls and the tenseness that seemed to enter into every muscle.

"Kakashi," Gai interrupted, "Neji needs medical assistance now. We have to get back to Konoha."

Kakashi ignored him, focusing on Shikamaru. His instincts were screaming that this was not good news, that the way tears were slowly dripping from Shikamaru's eyes spelled sleepless nights.

"Sakura."

And Kakashi's world exploded.

XXXXXXXXXX

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN SAKURA'S BEEN CAPTURED BY OROCHIMARU?!"

The blonde had leapt to her feet, knocking over her chair and spilling expensive sake all over her desk. Her bosom was heaving with extreme anger but her lower lip trembled with another emotion.

Kakashi glared at the woman with one frozen eye. The aura surrounding him cold with killing intent.

"I intend to leave and find my student."

"DON'T SPEAK TO ME IN THAT TONE KAKASHI!" Tsunade yelled, her cheeks flushing dark with rage, "You will stay here!"

"I will go and you cannot stop me."

"Minato would not have approved of your behaviour." Kakashi started slightly as Jiraiya released his genjustsu and revealed himself, in his anger he had not even noticed Jiraiya's genjutsu. The white-haired man frowned darkly at the copy-nin.

"I cannot sit idly by as my student is under the control of that snake-son-of-a-bitch," Kakashi stated emotionlessly.

Tsunade's bared her teeth at him, a growl escaping her lips, "Must I remind you thats she is much more my student then she ever was yours."

She smiled darkly as he stiffened, something inside her had snapped and all the repressed anger she felt for the Copy-nin rose violently to the surface. "You who ignored her in favor of the prodigy Uchiha. You who taught her nothing useful and refused to realize her full potential. She was the smartest of her class, she had an amazing aptitude for genjutsu and you, with your damnable Sharingan, could have taught her so much. She could have blossomed under you tutelage but instead you let her wither slowly away, in the shadow of her teammates. Everything she is today, amazingly strong, capable, second only to me as a medic-nin and an ANBU captain is because of me, because I recognized her potential. With you she would have flitted slowly from mission to mission, taking years to finally become a chuunin before dying a sad and unworthy death on a sad and unworthy mission."

"Shut up," Kakashi's voice, though deathly soft, held a clear warning.

"Was it worth it Kakashi? To have your favourite student, the one you focused all your attention on betray you and his village. Was it worth it to see Naruto in the hospital again and again, wrapped in bandages because he couldn't bring him back? Was it worth it to watch Sakura break and lose her innocence? Was it worth it to see the tears running down their faces? Because Kakashi, I blame you for every tear MY apprentice has shed for him, for every sleepless night, for every time she has fallen ill from mal-nourishment. I blame you."

The darkened room was suddenly filled with eery electric sparks. Kakashi's raised his Raikiri, his single eye a dark contrast to the bright light.

Suddenly, Jiraiya stood protectively in front of Tsunade, his eyes narrowed. Eight ANBU and Gai grasped onto Kakashi, forcing the Raikiri to disappear as four kunai pressed into his neck while his arms and legs were gripped tight in forcible hold.

Tsunade laughed, an odd forced sound that vibrated around the deadly silent room.

"Were you going to kill me, Kakashi?" She leaned around Jiraiya, her lips in a mocking smile. "Would that erase your sins?"

"You speak of sins Hokage-_sama_?" Kakashi's words held a vicious bite, "You act as if I'm the only one that has accumulated them."

Tsunade's smile was swept off her lips. Kakashi smirked as pain was evident in the beautiful blonde's darkened eyes.

"Do not speak of what you don't understand."

"Likewise Tsunade-_sama_."

Jiraiya glared at the copy-nin, "Attacking the Hokage is a crime punishinable with execution."

"I did not lay a hand on the Hokage."

"But your killing intent was perfectly clear."

A stony cold silence fell over the room as Kakashi sent waves of killing intent at the sensei of his sensei.

Naruto took that convienient time to waltz easily into the room. "Tsunade-baa-chan, have you seen Ero-sennin?" he said loudly, a sheepish grin on his face. He paused as he took in the scene. "Eh, what's going on?"

Kakashi smiled wryly at his ex-student before he disapeared in a puff of smoke. The ANBU and Gai stumbled slightly as their prisoner disapeared. Their kunais flashing uselessly through thin air at the point Kakashi's neck had been.

"Kage Bunshin?" Gai raised one thick eyebrow.

"Hai, he is not Konoha's Copy-nin for no reason," Jiraiya managed a bemused smile, "He must have switched just before activating Raikiri."

Tsunade sat back and reclined in her comfortable chair, sighing loudly as she observed the shinobi in her office. She waved a hand dismissively at them, "You may go." There was a blur of leaves and wind as the shinobi teleported away.

"Ano sa, Tsunade-baa-chan, what's going on?" Naruto scratched his head as an adorably confused look crossed his face.

XXXXXXXX

**A/N:** Bahahahahaha! Poor Sakura, caught in the clutches of the creepy snake man and Mr. Smithers. But where is our hero? Sasuke... come out come out wherever you are! Hmmm, it seems he just might make an appearance next chapter. Or... maybe not? Haha, I'm enjoying this way too much. And will Kakashi be executed for trying to murder the Hokage? Will Neji pull through? Will Naruto, Ino and the gang find out that Sakura's been captured? Will Akatsuki come into the mix? Will Sai decide to show himself? Will Tsunade and Kakashi fight... and then end up having passionate sex? (Lmfao just kidding about that one... or am I?)

Find out next time on Dragonball Z... I mean 'Awaken'.

Oh and that reminds me, not too many of you seem to mind Sai/Ino and so they shall be a couple. For those of you that don't like the pairing, don't worry there won't be too much on them.

Oh and please leave some feedback! I'll love you forever and always and forever and always.

And if you don't.

I'll throw a jello cup of DOOM at you.

Beware the jello! It burns like ACID rain in your eyeholes.


	5. In the Lair of the Snake

**In the Lair of the Snake**

XXXXXXXXXX

"In this farewell  
There's no blood  
There's no alibi  
'Cause I've drawn regret  
From the truth  
Of a thousand lies"

-What I've Done, Linkin Park

XXXXXXXXXX

Dedicated to _TwistedHarmony_(Get your ASS in gear and write your fics, you asswipe) and **xX-Arianna-Hime-Xx.**

Sakura huffed indignantly, glaring at her surroundings with angry, jade eyes. She had already searched the small 8 by 5 foot cell for anything useful or any weaknesses. Unfortunately, her bag was gone along with her katana, shuriken and kunai.

'Jeeze, I hate my life.' She thought with a dramatic Ino-like roll of her eyes.

With a annoyed sigh, she flopped onto her back, toying idly with the silver band circling her neck. She had figured out how it worked hours ago while examining the kanji etched onto the metal with her fingers. It gathered all the victim's chakra and confined it in an unbreakable, metaphorical box. It was quite ingenious actually, Kabuto could turn her own chakra against her, as he had previously demonstrated. It was very effective while using only a miniscule amount of chakra on Kabuto's part.

She had already tried summoning a slug to contact Tsunade-shishou but her chakra suppression band had rendered her as useless as she was when she was twelve. Though she retained a small amount of chakra, it was just not enough to do anything useful with.

"Orochimaru you asswipe, I'm going to make you regret the day you were born," she whispered with frustration under her breath.

"Is that so, my little cherry blossom?"

She yelped and jolted to a sitting position, Orochimaru's amber eyes watched her with warm amusement from the little, barred window on her door.

She growled at him, baring her teeth ferally. He laughed at that, his lips curling back, displaying sharpened canines that sent a shiver of pure fear shooting down her back.

"Is that really supposed to scare me, little one?" he said gently, boring his golden eyes into her turbulent verdant.

She couldn't look away, caught in his hypnotic gaze. Her eyes widened as he unlocked the door and slowly approached her. She gasped but didn't move, scared shitless by the man closing the distance between them. He knelt by her, fingering a rosette lock in his pale, spidery fingers.

"You know, my dear, You really have grown to be very beautiful," his lips ghosted over her cheek but she stayed stock still, petrified into place by fear.

"Be good and maybe I'll let Sasuke have a turn after I've finished."

She slapped him, her eyes regaining their bright, emerald fire. "As if I'd ever let you touch me, you disgusting bastard."

He laughed again and this time it was filled with cold creeping malice. The ire left her cold as she once again shook with fear, biting on her bottom lip. With strange gentleness, his gingerly held her chin, tilting her head up slightly to look her straight in the eye.

"Whoever said I asked for your permission, dearest?"

The snake-sannin crushed his lips forcefully against hers.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi sat on top of the stone Yondaime's head, his single eye staring out at the glittering Konoha beneath. Having just committed high treason against Konoha, Kakashi felt no regret at all.

Besides, Tsunade had no right to say what she had said. Though it was completely true, she did not know the circumstances of the situation.

She did not know that Kakashi would do anything for his team. That he loved his team... because they were all he had left.

Whenever Kakashi looked at Naruto, he saw the shadow of Obito.

He saw the painful determination to prove himself and be acknowledged by his loved ones. He saw the fierce spark of comraderie and love that glowed in Naruto's bright aura, just as bright as Obito's had been. He saw the pigheaded stuborness in the set of Naruto's jaw just as it had always been in the curve of Obito's smirk.

Whenever Kakashi was around Sakura, he felt the essence of Rin.

The beautiful green eyes sparkling with that very same joy that had always danced ready in Rin's eyes. The devastating smile that always made him blink twice and that enticed such an intense feeling of protectiveness inside him, he could barely breathe. He saw the will to be strong and not be left behind. The gentle soul that allowed her to be a medic even as she was a shinobi, a murderer.

Whenever Kakashi spoke to Sasuke, he heard the echoes of his own mistakes.

Sasuke with his blind arrogance and single-minded goals. Sasuke who did not falter as he walked all over Sakura's heart, just as Kakashi had broken Rin's. Sasuke who never acknowledged Naruto just as Kakashi had selfishly ignored Obito.

In Sasuke, he saw everything he had become, every mistake that had led to his fall from grace.

In Sasuke he saw a chance for redemption.

So he had trained Sasuke, equipped him with power and skills. All for the one purpose that he would not make that mistake, he would not destroy Sakura's and Naruto's fragile hearts for good. He would not leave.

But Sasuke had left, just as fate had willed it to be.

History always repeats itself.

It is a rule of fate and time. And the gods did love repetitiveness. The same story, the same pain, the same heartbreak.

Did they not know?

Did they not understand that putting the arrogant prodigy, the determined loser and the weak medic together on one team would always lead to tradigy.

That tradigy was unavoidable for the doomed threesome.

Just as it had been unavoidable for Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade.

Just as it had been unavoidable for Kakashi, Rin and Obito.

But Kakashi had believed.

He had believed that his team, team seven would break the habit, destroy the chain. He had believed that this time it would work, this time they would prove everyone wrong. Team seven would rise away from their shadows and emerge victorious.

But who were humans to avoid the chains of fate and destiny?

And yet, even though he knew that the chances were against him, against them all... Kakashi still hoped.

He hoped that one day, the sunshine would return to the dark depths of Naruto's eyes.

He hoped that one day, Sakura's smile would not be so broken.

He hoped, though he knew he had no right, that his team would rise from the ashes and burn brightly once more. That they would be the prodigy, the loser and the weakling no more.

He hoped that his family would return to him whole.

"Kakashi."

The silver-haired former ANBU did not turn as the soft feminine voice spoke his name.

"I'm sorry," the Hokage's blonde hair fluttered in the dying wind as she voiced her soft apology, "I had no right to say that." Her unspoken words caressed his ears, 'even if it's true.'

"It's just that I cannot let you go by yourself. You are one of the strongest shinobi in the village and we cannot afford to lose you. Sakura will be rescued but with the best team I can create to send to her aid. Orochimaru is a Sannin and his power is not to be taken lightly."

He inclined his head very slightly to acknowledge her apology and her words. Tsunade knew that he did forgive her harsh words but they were not forgotten, lying just under the surface, an ugly truth.

"I can't lose her."

"You care for her that much?" Tsunade asked, taking a seat on Jiraiya's student's head and crossing her long legs.

"Yes, she has always been my favourite," Kakashi admitted.

One pale eyebrow arched delicately at that comment, "Not the chicken-haired Uchiha?"

A dark chuckle followed that comment, Kakashi leaned back to observe the slowly darkening sky. "She used to be so weak and single-minded. But then like a flower, she blossomed. Even though she didn't have a bloodline limit like Sharingan or Kyuubi-enhanced chakra, she managed to pull it off. She became strong of her own determination, her own will to succeed. And I admire her so much for it."

"Sakura has always been exceptional," Tsunade admitted, "I have never seen anyone master my techniques faster."

"The potential to be exceptional... but what does that count for on a team with a vengeful prodigy and a powerful jinchuuriki. She has always been overshadowed by their ambition and power because she has never had anything to fight for. Sasuke fought for vengence and Naruto fought for recognition, but what did the regular little kunoichi have to fight for? But I do believe that Sasuke and Naruto did her a big favour by leaving her, as strange as it sounds. When she recieved a purpose, to drag Sasuke back home and to protect Naruto from everything that meant to hurt him, she finally embraced the role of kunoichi fully."

Tsunade nodded thoughtfully before inclining her head to the side to stare the jounin in the eye. "But why didn't you train her Kakashi? Sasuke left and Naruto had Jiraiya, you didn't even offer to train your female member, forcing her to seek out me."

Kakashi slowly sat up and shifted to face the beautiful Hokage.

"Because she is like a daughter to me."

"What?" The Hokage cocked her head, utterly confused.

"I believe it's time you knew the truth about Haruno Sakura."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura awoke to a terrible taste in her mouth. The pink-haired shinobi groaned softly and turned her head to the side to spit out the contents of her mouth. She reflexively tried to lift a hand to wipe her mouth when with a jolting realization, she realized she couldn't move it.

Semi-lucid green eyes snapped open to observe her surroundings. She relized her wrists and ankles were cuffed to the wall by thick iron manackles. Her back and head were flat aginst the wall, forced that way by the distance of her ankle and wrist cuffs. She was in a small room, lit only with atleast thirty candles. There was a small bed in the corner and two doors leading to a closet and a bathroom most likely.

She noticed small puncture wounds on her bottom lip from his teeth. She also noticed an unknown substance in her body, slowly being metabolized. She realized that Orochimaru had injected a tiny amount of sleeping venom through the wound. Using the miniscule amount of chakra the band on her neck did not restrict, she increased her metabolism speed by three times, dispelling the remaining effects of the toxin.

Finally fully awake, she decided to think over her situation. She noticed that her clothes, though torn up from the sword fight with the snake-sannin, were still on her body. She breathed a cool sigh of relief as new concerns popped into her mind. She was hungry(where were her mothball energy bars when she needed them?), cold(freakin snake can't afford central heating?), cuffed to the wall(which was getting pretty damn uncomfortable), in the layer of the snake-sannin(and his creepy little servant boy, Kabuto) and did she mention she was hungry?

Tired of using dry humour and sarcasm to lighten the darkness, Sakura let her head flop onto her chest.

"Hungry?"

Her mood was not improved when faced with a smirking Sasuke holding a tray easily in one splayed hand.

"Kabuto, drop the Sasuke thing, it's getting old really fast."

"Oh damn, and I thought I was going to get laid."

She snorted loudly, a mocking twist to her lips, "Not getting that much action since Sasuke stole the limelight?"

She put on a ugly, whiny face and a high-pitched voice, "Oh Orochimaru-sama, please fuck me again, I yearn to be your bitch so bad."

Her face changed to a equally ugly, scary face and her voice became cold and slimy, "No Kabuto, now I have a fresh, young twelve year old to play kinky games with, you are no longer needed." She burst out laughing at the infuriated look on Kabuto's face.

"You are quite the frigid, little bitch, aren't you?"

"Well, I try."

"As much as I'd like to punish you, Orochimaru-sama needs you full-strength for tonight.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" She smiled widely, "Frankly I'm more frightened by the fact that it looks like you want to be in my shoes right now." Okay, so she was really exhausting the Orochimaru's-bitch jokes, but she needed some way to amuse herself.

He dropped the henge and smiled unpleasantly at her, ignoring her comment.

"Hungry?" He asked again, though his voice sounded noticeably more strained.

She scowled and turned her head away, not bothering to answer his question. Her scowl deepened as her stomach answered for her, growling hungrily.

Kabuto laughed, "I assumed so," he approached the restrained kunoichi and she eyed him warily from the corner of her eye, like a trapped tigress.

"Don't worry, I won't bite." He smiled and held out a fresh, ripe strawberry in front of her lips. With a sigh of disgust, she turned away.

"Mmm delicious," Kabuto ate the refused morsel, watching her eyes widen then narrow to green slits.

He held a cherry to her mouth and rubbed it sensually over her lips. She turned her head away again, refusing to accept the fruit.

"So stubborn," he shrugged his shoulders and popped the berry into his mouth, "More for me then."

She closed her eyes and wished with all of her might to be free.

'God, if you free me now... I promise I'll never smoke again.'

Her eyes popped open and she immediately sighed, 'Maybe he knows I was lying about that...'

"Sakura, don't be so childish," the amused voice of Orochimaru made her head snap up, viridian eyes glittering with hate, anger and just a little bit of fear. "You should eat and keep up your strength," he smiled mildly.

"Make me."

Immediately she regretted her words when a unpleasant gleam appeared in his jaundiced eyes.

"Since you asked so nicely."

Orochimaru carefully picked a strawberry and slid it into his mouth. He approached her with slow purposeful steps, chewing delicately on his delectable morsel. He grasped her chin in his long fingers, tilting it up so emerald met yellow.

He crushed her lips in a forceful kiss, smiling against her mouth as she began to thrash her head against him. He held her head still with a restraining hand on both sides of her head. His tongue tapped impatiently against her bottom lip, asking for entrance. She venemously denied, pressing her lips together tightly. In retaliation he bit her bottom lip viciously, drawing blood. Her answering surprised gasp allowed him to snake his tongue into her cavern and release a gush of strawberry juice into her mouth. She gagged and was forced to swallow as Orochimaru deepened the kiss. With new resolve, the pink-haired shinobi bit viciously down on his invading appendage. He recoiled immediately, smiling dangerously at the out-of-breath woman in front of him. She spat the mouthful of his blood mingled with hers onto the ground and glared at the snake, her bruised lips shaking with her anger.

He raised a hand and she closed her eyes but did not flinch as she waited for the blow that was sure to come. Instead his hand came to rest softly on her cheek, stroking her formerly bruised skin.

"My disobediant little blossom, if you don't eat your food, I'll have to keep force feeding it to you. Is that what you want?"

The said blossom just dropped her head to her chest, avoiding the soul-searching amber eyes. Orochimaru laughed softly and swept out of the room. She relaxed as she felt his presence exit.

She blinked as another strawberry rested temptingly on her lips. Sakura snapped her head up to stare into Kabuto's eyes. Kabuto smirked at the humbled kunoichi as he tapped her lips with the berry, waiting for her to open her mouth. The pink-haired shinobi hesitantly complied, she allowed Kabuto to feed her the fruit, forgetting the indignity for the energy it provided.

Energy she would need to escape this snake-infested shit hole.

XXXXXXXXXX

"We have a new target."

The bright holograms flicked their eyes to their spiky-haired leader.

"Not a Jinchuuriki?" The shark-toothed man questioned lightly, idly shifting his massive sword.

"No, a new member or a prisoner, whatever she chooses to be."

"She?" The soft voice of a kunoichi asked, her eyes flicking to the spiky-haired man.

His eyes laughed maliciously at the woman with the paper rose in her hair, "She," he agreed.

"Who is she?" A man with a head between large, venus flytrap, asked.

"A high-ranked ANBU captain of Konohagakure. The Legendary Sannin Tsunade's pupil in strength and medical ninjutsu."

The crimson-eyed one nodded slowly, "I know of the one you speak, she travels with the nine-tails jinchuuriki."

The spiky-haired man nodded, "Then you shall go to retrieve her, along with Kisame and Hidan, Itachi. It will not be easy, she has been caught by Orochimaru."

The man that closely resembled a shark snorted loudly in apparent displeasure.

The spiky-haired man quirked an eyebrow at the blue-tinted shark man, "Is something the matter."

"I don't think that girl can stand her own with even the weakest member of Akatsuki," his eyes lingered on the man hiding behind a swirled orange mask. "Is there another reason we are being dispatched to retrieve her, leader-sama?"

The red-eyed shinobi, now identified as Itachi allowed a smirk to quirk his lips, "Re-assess your preconceived notions of this girl, she may surprise you."

"The Akatsuki may finally recieve a worth-while kunoichi," the leader agreed, his eyes once again danced on the rose adorned woman, laughing at her silently. The kunoichi flinched visibly at the comment, her eyes falling to settle on the ground.

The silver-haired man smirked, "And what's the name of our soon to be member?"

"Haruno Sakura."

XXXXXXXXXXX

'Crack.'

The high chink of china cracking caught everyone's attention, eyes turned towards the blonde hokage-wannabe.

Naruto glared at his sake, examining the large crack that had almost magically appeared on his cup.

"That's a bad omen," Ino said with a slight frown.

Naruto shot her an smirk, "I don't believe in stupid superstitions." He raised his head high, "Because I, Uzumaki Naruto, future Rokudaime Hokage, do not have time to worry about useless things like superstitions," his overly dramatic voice and semi-serious face were such a throw-back to the past that the others blinked.

Here they all were, after Ino has dragged everyone to the Barbeque restaurant to celebrate Naruto's return. None of the girls could get over how gorgeous Naruto had become and all of the guys were glad to have Naruto back.

Except Kiba.

Who was currently having a sexual fantasy about Naruto involving chains, a whip, a nurse outfit, a creamsicle flavoured condom and his favourite gay porno vid.

Dammit Kiba, get back in the proverbial closet and stay there. Or better yet, go find Ebisu-sensei.

They were all suprised by how much Naruto has truly changed. Though he still remained adorably cheerful, he was different in so many other ways. The new air of seriousness about him, gone was the blundering, clumsy teenager, here in his place stood a shinobi. Kiba could smell the faint traces of blood on his sheathed weapons, this was a Naruto that killed without hesitation. Temari could see his subtly tensed muscles, set to spring at any needed moment. But Hinata could only focus on his blue eyes, while once full of so much joy and love, they just seemed lacklustre.

Shadowed, Hinata decided, Naruto's eyes were shadowed. And she could not help but mourn for the death of the sparkling blue-eyed teenager she had once known.

"Hinata," the girl snapped out of her musings as the object of her affections turned his gaze on her. "Are you okay, you look flushed."

"H-Hai," he smiled at her, not a smirk but a real smile, and tucked back a lock of purple tinted black hair.

"I'm glad."

Ino, Temari and Tenten exchanged pointed wicked grins, looks like there's some match making to be done.

While Kiba and Chouji groaned at the evil looks on the faces of the girls. While Shino just stared into space and Lee seemed pre-occupied.

"And Where is Sakura-san anyways?" Lee asked confused, wondering why his pink-haired friend wasn't here.

Naruto's look turned grim, "She's on a mission with Neji and Shikamaru," and though he tried not to show it, worry for the woman he considered his closest family filtered onto his face.

"Don't worry, Naruto," Ino easily deciphered his feelings, "Forehead is incredibly strong now, you don't need to worry."

"Hai," Temari smirked, stretching her long, slender legs, "Besides, she's armed with my wind jutsus and a whole bunch of bitchiness, she can't lose." The wind-mistress unfurled a pretty cloth fan with a practiced flick of her wrist and began to slowly fan herself.

Naruto nodded and smiled a convincing fake smile, even as bitter fear curdled in his stomach.

Something was wrong.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What do you know about Haruno Sakura?"

Tsunade frowned slightly, "She's a kunoichi from the Haruno Clan, a clan that has never before produced a capable ninja. She has amazing chakra control and is a master of genjutsu and taijutsu. She has improved her ninjutsu remarkably, even if it is still not her forte. She is third ranked ANBU captain of Konohagakure and is known to be in the bingo book of many of the enemy countries."

The copy-nin nodded slowly, his single eye observing the Godaime with an emotion she could not identify.

"What if I told you," a dull gleam of ironic humor sparked in his eye, "That she is not a Haruno. That perhaps she is much more Orochimaru's creation than she ever was Haruno Aiko and Haruno Daisuke's daughter."

Honeyed eyes widened then narrowed at the mention of her snake teammate, her lips pressing into a thin line.

"Tell me everything."

XXXXXXXXXX

A/N Hey guys, sorry for the wait but here's your new chapter! It's a little shorter than usual but the next one will be longer to make up for it.

Preview Next Chapter: _"A pleasure as always Sasuke-kun," Kabuto replied, smiling in his trademark fake, slimy way. "Orochimaru-sama is currently... indisposed. He will seek you out when he is done... taking care of his guest."_

And now, onto reviewer responses! All the answers to your burning questions.

**Kurenai no Chinoumi**: Fatso-Sasuke-teme! I laughed out loud at that! Sorry no fatso now, but he will definitely make an appearance next chapter.

**Frank was not like Other Sheep**: You make me laugh! Thanks for the kind words. I love Kakashi, but he did completely ignore her and it was really sad. But Kakashi really is a psychologically messed up man. Thank you for the reviews dear.

**Mistress DragonFlame**: Thank you for your words of flattery, I'm not wothy :P. Well Sakura has her reasons for being a smoker and they shall be revealed soon enough. And maybe Sasuke-teme can break her out of the habit (wink).

**Sakura4Eva**: Thanks for the support, I muchly appreciate-o. Sakura and Naruto are not really related but they've been through so much that they consider themselves brother and sister. Neither of them have any (HINT) family left. As to your questions, Sasuke will come in next chapter and Kakashi didn't want to kill Tsunade, he just lost control of himself because her words hit a DEEP nerve. Bahaha you'll see.

**Silver-Heart377**: SasuSaku moments may seem far away but they are indeed just over the rainbow, young grasshoper. Lol. Soon enough dear... Bahahahaha.

**Leigh4**: Tsunade has quite the temper and it's easy for her to lose it. Kakashi is strong but even he cannot stand against the combined force of a Sannin and Sound. Thank you for the review.

**Taffyz**: He is SUCH a molestor. I mean the creepy tongue thing and the abducting of twelve year old boys? Not cool.

**XX-Arianna-Hime-Xx**: This chapter is dedicated to you dearest, for your amazing inspiring review. And Tempest-chan would be fine (:D). Sakura has her reasons for being a smoker, maybe Sasuke-kun can break her out of the habit. And seeeee... Kakashi cares for her! But he has a secret, the reason why he ignored her for the boys... I wonder what it is? (mwhahaaha evil laughter)

And Thanks SO much for giving me your input on the last chapter guys: **pet.snooze, sakura9898, Gothic Saku-chan, Night'sBullet, nomanslandvicki, Naraku's Phoenix, NeeNVirgo, Heartheart, haliz, Jayde-Green07, otaku-freak16.**

P.S. If I forgot you, doubly sorry, I tend to do that sometimes . 


	6. Violation

WARNING: NON-CON/RAPE

Violation

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_"Face down in the dirt, she said this doesn't hurt, she said I've finally had enough..."-Face Down: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus_

XXXXXXXXXX

"Tell me everything."

Kakashi bowed his head slightly, "It all started 13 years ago..."

_Hatake Kakashi easily slid his kunai across the Mist Nin's throat. He released the shaggy mess of brown hair and let the unfortunate shinobi fall heavily to the floor, his wet, choking noises trickling into silence. Beside him, Uchiha Itachi was finishing up with his last opponent as well, pulling his bloody katana from between the man's ribs and wiping it carelessly on the dying ninja's clothing. _

_Kakashi subtly nodded at the Uchiha and the two skilled shinobi walked away from the dead and dying pile of shinobi, neither glancing back._

"_Itachi."_

"_Hai Kakashi-sempai," the eleven year old stated in his deep tenor._

"_I'm going in to the facility, you handle any shinobi that come your way and signal me if they send back-up into the building."_

"_Hai Kakashi-sempai," the boy made quick hand seals and disapeared in a plume of wispy smoke._

_The silver-haired ANBU captain set his sights on the run down, old building in front of him. It was a simple, if slightly messy, mission. Sandaime had sent him and Itachi to destroy a building in the Mist where it was rumoured that Orochimaru had been doing human experiments._

_He easily made six shadow clones and entered the building through a side entrance, ordering his clones to find different entrances. He had loaded each clone with exploding tags which they were to place in strategic weak points all around the structure. _

_He disposed of two chuunin strength guards easily with a flick of his wrist, sending two kunai into their throats. Actually, it was laughably easy to accomplish his task, he met no more guards and managed to place all his exploding tags in position in less than two minutes. _

_Kakashi then proceeded to search the building for anything interesting to take back to Konoha. Maybe the snake-sannin had left behind his plans for world domination or something equally as important._

_The mask wearing shinobi slipped into each room like a shadow, finding bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen and a large lounge but nothing interesting. Finally he slipped into a office-style room. He groaned lightly under his mask as he observed the chaotic mess of scrolls cast everywhere and anywhere, on the chairs, the desk, the floor and oddly, there was even one hanging precariously from the mini chandeliar._

_With trained eyes, Kakashi skimmed over the scrolls, dismissing the unimportant ones and shrinking the ones he thought had merit and stuffing them into his vest._

_A soft crying sound made Kakashi pause, he turned towards the door and cocked his head, half expecting an enemy ninja. Another anguished sob sounded outside the door. Kakashi swiftly moved towards the sound, readying a kunai just in case._

_It was coming from a nearby room, just a few doors away. Kakashi cautiously entered, casting suspicious eyes around. Almost immediately, he was hit with the overwhelming mettalic tang of blood. The room was cast in shadows but as he stepped closer, the sounds of crying grew louder and louder._

_A girl was strapped to the wall with heavy iron manacles, her naked body splattered with black and yellow bruises. Sobs shook her tiny frame, her body trembling from their sheer intensity. Her shoulder length hair was so dirty and blood encrusted he could not tell it's true hue. _

_She was thin, far too thin. Kakashi was nauseated by the stark ribs visible through her thin skin and the jutting, sharp hipbones._

_Kakashi hesitated but his senses told him she was flesh and blood and not a cleverly casted genjutsu. With hesistant steps, he approached the small, distressed child, unsure of what to do._

_She gasped, finally aware of his presence, her head shot up like an arrow. He was met with eyes filled with far too much pain for one so young. They were beautiful emeralds tainted dark with sorrow and he was caught instantly by her broken gaze._

_Her eyes flicked nervously back on forth, like a trapped animal. Her trembling body began to shake so hard, he feared she would go into convulsions._

_He approached her slowly and knelt three feet away from her. He removed his ANBU mask and infused as much warmth as he could into his single eye, trying to comfort her. _

"_Shhh I'm not going to hurt you, little one."_

_She seemed to see something favourable in his eye or perhaps she believed his kindly spoken words for her trembling reduced to shivering and the aura of a trapped animal disapeared from her._

"_What are you doing here?"_

_She seemed confused by the question, shaking her head slightly in response._

_He frowned slightly and tried again, "What's your name?"_

"_I don't have a name," she answered softly, her voice a bare whisper._

"_What do you mean, everyone has a name."_

_The little girl shook her head resolutely, "Only real people have names."_

_Kakashi paused as his ear-piece buzzed and Itachi warned him that reinforcements were on the way. Kakashi swore lightly under his breath, they needed to get out of here now._

"_Come on, little one, we must leave, this place is no longer safe for you," he said considering that the building was about to become a big pile of rubble._

_She shook her head once more, "Last time I tried to leave, they locked me in the cold, dark place with the rats for a week," her eyes shone with unshed tears and Kakashi mentally mutilated any sick bastard that would do such a thing to such an innocent child._

"_I won't let anything harm you," Kakashi was surprised by how much he meant those words._

_The girl solemnly looked into his eye for a few moments. She averted her gaze and nodded hesitantly._

"_Are there any more of you?" He had to make sure that this blast did not kill any innocents. He did not want the blood of children on his conscience. She shook her head in the negative._

"_I'm the only one left."_

_He unsheathed his katana and pumped chakra into the blade, with fierce concentration, he cut through heavy iron. Her delicate wrists and thin ankles came free and she fell forward but Kakashi caught her in one strong arm. He sheathed his blade and whipped off his cloak, covering her nude body. He slung her gently over one shoulder and wrapped a stabalizing arm around her thighs._

_He began to run for the nearest exit, forming a one handed seal with his free hand as he did so. As soon as they were out into the fresh air, Kakashi activated his exploding tags._

_The building behind them exploded into a fantastical display of flames and light. Orange, red, yellow and black merged, rolling and crashing against one another, spiraling out in a wave of pure destruction._

_He searched out Itachi's chakra and quickly moved towards the boy._

_'I shouldn't have bothered,' he thought drily, 'the trail of bodies marks his location.'_

_Sure enough, the Uchiha stood calmly amongst the mass of dead bodies, his eyes closed behind his mask. He held his katana loosely in his left hand, the mingled blood of his enemies dripping off the razor-sharp edge._

_The two sharingan users exchanged quick glances before they slipped into the woods, disapearing like silken shadows into the darkness. Behind them they could hear the yells of the Mist shinobi and smell the acrid burning building._

_The two travelled in silence for two hours and even the little girl, now settled comfortably in Kakashi's arms kept unnaturally quiet. They had removed their ANBU masks, their faces hidden by the darkness of the night._

_Finally, Kakashi broke the silence, "Aren't you going to ask me about our new companion?" _

_Itachi shrugged, as he slowed his pace to a walk "You bring home strays all the time."_

_They heard a soft squeak escape Kakashi's passenger, "I am not a dog," she said softly, shifting to glance at the back of the Uchiha._

_The said boy wrinkled his nose, "But you smell worse than one."_

_The girl merely shrugged lightly and nuzzled back into Kakashi's warm embrace, "That's true," she agreed with a discreet sniff of own skin._

_Kakashi chuckled warmly, "Then perhaps we should get you cleaned up."_

_The girl nodded sagely, "It would be a good idea."_

_Kakashi suppressed a laugh at the girl's adorably honesty. He sensed that now was not the time to ask any questions that pertained to the building he had rescued her from or her roughed up condition. So being the wise and incredibly smart man he is, he decided to keep his mouth shut._

_Itachi snorted quietly and the corners of his mouth turned up in a slight smirk. "What's your name?"_

_The girl shook her head, "I don't have one."_

_Kakashi and Itachi exchanged confused glances, "So what should we call you?" Kakashi asked cautiously, a question he had not had the time to ask in the building._

_She smiled, "Experiment number sixty-two."_

XXXXXXXXX

"Where is Orochimaru?"

Sasuke levelled a cool glare at a strangely cheerful Kabuto. He noticied that Kabuto's lips were stained red and he smelt strongly of strawberries.

"A pleasure as always Sasuke-kun," Kabuto replied, smiling in his trademark fake, slimy way. "Orochimaru-sama is currently... indisposed. He will seek you out when he is done... taking care of his guest."

Sasuke suppressed a grimace, that probably meant that the snake-sannin was entertaining female company. "Tell him that if he doesn't finish with his whore promptly, I will retrieve him."

Kabuto seemed to find this incredibly amusing. His lips twitched as his eyes gleamed with humor. "I will be sure to pass along the message, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke turned on heel and walked away, something about the look in Kabuto's eye made him really uneasy.

"Sasuke-kun," Kabuto called.

Sasuke paused but did not turn around, he could hear the laughter ringing in Kabuto's voice.

"I would avoid the west wing if I were you," Kabuto said.

"And why is that?" Sasuke emotionless voice cut sharply through Kabuto's mocking words.

"Tsk tsk, remember, Sasuke-kun, curiousity killed the cat."

Sasuke resisted the urge to behead the medic-nin behind him and walked away. He didn't give a damn about the west wing or whatever Orochimaru was up too. But the strange thing was, Kabuto knew very well about his apathetic nature. So why this strange request to stay away from the west wing? Kabuto was playing subtle mind games with him and Sasuke was intelligent enough to catch it.

'I don't give a shit.'

But if that was true, then Sasuke asked himself, 'Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?'

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura started awake, not even aware of when and how she had fallen asleep. She licked her dry lips and tried to stretch out her sore shoulders and wrists. She sighed, giving up, being chained to a wall really did suck smelly, hairy ass.

"So Sleeping Beauty has finally awoken," She gasped as Orochimaru slid with snake-like grace out of the shadows from the opposite side of the room. She blinked and suddenly he was pressed up against her, his cool lips against her right cheek. "And you didnt even need a kiss."

She could not help but snort at that line, "I dont know who deluded you but you sure as hell dont look like a prince." Oh shit, open mouth insert shuriken.

Orochimaru sighed dramatically, "You know I really dont enjoy this, but it seems you just dont know when to stop yourself. Im going to have to teach you another lesson."

"Fuck you."

"Gladly, my beauty."

Suddenly, cold, angular lips were mashed onto hers with bruising force. She gasped and tried to wrench away but he held her head steady. His tongue snaked between her lips and tapped impatiently on the barrier of her teeth. She growled viciously and snapped her teeth out, capturing and piercing his bottom lip.

With a soft growl, Orochimaru muttered something under his breath, swiping his thumb over his bleeding lips and smearing it on her neck. Two large white snakes appeared wrapped tightly around her neck. She gasped for air as they constricted her breath, trying desperately to draw oxygen into her lungs.

"So strong..." His lips kissed the corner of her eye with deceptive gentleness.

"Give into me," He whispered against her ear, "I'll make you feel so good."

Sakura could see blinding black spots begin to obscure her vision as her lungs screamed for air but she still managed to shake her head at the snake-sannin.

Orochimaru sighed dramatically, "Hmm, too bad. But perhaps I'll like this way better anyway." The snakes around her throat loosened slightly but still remained, a threatening presence to keep her under his control.

His hands tore her ragged vest in half and threw the pieces of cloth to the side. Her black, sleeveless shirt met the same fate. She shivered in disgust and fear as he stared at her heaving chest, covered in only her bra.

'Atleast I didn't wear one of my pretty lacey bras. Haha you son-of-a-bitch, get turned off by my ugly granny bra.'

But Orochimaru just smirked, yellow eyes glazed with desire.

'Damn it.'

All thoughts abandoned her as a sharp nail slit the front of her final chest covering, freeing her breasts to his greedy eyes. Green eyes snapped tightly shut, limp fingers clenching into tight fists. She could feel his eyes burning on her skin as he whispered, "Such beauty."

His touch was suprisingly warm, his pale fingers gently carressing her flesh. His touch made her snap back, a growl vibrating deeply in her chest.

"I told you not to touch me."

"You belong to me." His words registered as amused when they filtered through her ears.

"I belong to NO ONE."

He chuckled softly, roughly pinching her sensitive nipples and eliciting a shocked gasp. He dispelled the snakes and his lips laved a wet path down her neck, leaving bruising bites along the porcelain column. She closed her eyes, biting her bottom lip so hard that she could taste the metalic edge of her own liquid life.

He drew blood from her sensitive nipples but she did not scream. He chuckled softly, his lips painted crimson with her blood. His long tongue snaked out to lick the liquid off his lips, fixing her with his yellow gaze and his lustful smirk.

"You have belonged to me since you were three years old, little one," his hand dropped to her flat stomach and sent a pulse of chakra into her skin. Her back arched with pain and a low groan escaped her bruised lips.

With wide eyes, her eyes dropped to stare with disbelief at the ugly black circle engraved with kanji now looping her belly button.

"What have you done to me?" she asked horrified, emerald eyes widening.

He looked at the mark with a dramatic frown, "No my dear, it wasn't me that did this to you." His long finger traced the intricate kanji, "This is Jiraiya's work." He smiled as the mark throbbed under his touch, "A five-element power and memory seal, how predictable Jiraiya," he muttered to himself under his breath.

"Jiraiya... memory seal?" the utterly confused girl tried to make sense of Orochimaru's words.

"Shh, little one, let's get back to more enjoyable matters. I'll take care of this later," his fingers carressed her seal.

She closed her eyes as her thoughts fled and she felt him slice and remove her tight black pants. With a slimy chuckle, his hands traced her smooth, lightly muscled thighs.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"

The look in his eyes scared the living shit out of her, the gaze of a hungry snake about to devour a shivering mouse.

The days of being a scared little mouse were far behind Sakura.

She thrashed her body as violently as she could, trying to shake off his caustic touch.

The Sannin smirked, a kunai magically appeared in his hand and in the next second it was pressed against her left breast. He chuckled as she was forced to stop struggling lest she cut her own skin. Orochimaru began to slowly carve his sharp kunai across her flesh. The skin parted easily, like butter under a hot knife.

"Such pretty pale skin you have, dear. Pity I have to scar it."

Sakura held her breath, refusing to voice any pain as the blade cut curving patterns around her nipples and then across the taut skin of her stomach. Blood flowed freely and covered her skin in a bright, red sheen.

His tongue slithered out to flick over one bloody nipple, "Tasty..."

"P-Please stop," her badass bravado deserted her as the Snake-sannin ripped her black panties clear off her body, "Don't do this."

"Well, well so the lioness has been declawed," his smile was pleased, "Nothing can stop this, you belong to me, mind, body and soul."

Wit and sarcasm were the next to desert her as the undid his baggy pants and slid them off his slim hips.

She closed her eyes and tried to wish herself far, far away from here. Her only blessing was that this wasn't her first and she thanked her lucky stars that her virginity was long gone.

She was sent careening back to the present as she felt him seperate her thighs harshly with his knee, his quick breaths hot against her shoulder. She felt him press him turgid length against her opening.

And in this moment of desperation, of tears slipping from tightly closed eyes, her mouth opened wide and she screamed the only name that came to her mind.

She screamed for salvation.

She screamed for the scared little girl she had once been.

She screamed for...

"SASUKE!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade's eyes were wide with shock. Kakashi mused that she looked like an innocent young woman, not the wild, bitchy hell-cat of a Hokage he knew so well.

"Sakura..." she breathed softly.

"Yes, a six year old Sakura, though her eyes were aged years beyond six."

"What happened next?" The blonde asked captivated.

"We stopped at a small town..."

_Kakashi had rented one room with two beds in the small inn. He had sent Itachi to survey and secure the immediate area. He had also bagged the Uchiha down with the responsibilty of buying dinner and some clothes for their little refugee. The girl in question was currently slumbering dreamlessly under a mild sleeping jutsu. He graced the sleeping girl with a small smile that quickly turned to a frown as he realised how dirty and bloody she actually was._

_He carefully rid her of his now dirty ANBU cloak, his frown deepening when he realized it were stuck to wounds on her back. He gently pulled the cloth away from the wound, releasing blood and the smell of infection into the air. With suprised eyes, he examined the deep, raw lacerations criss-crossing her back. They oozed yellow pus and dark, tainted blood._

_'Whip marks,' he thought, his single eye darkening._

_Her breathing had sped up and her brow was furrowed from pain. Kakashi frowned and deepened the sleeping jutsu, this was going to be painful and he would try to ease the pain in whatever way he could. He was surprised that she had not complained once during their run and he had not once seen pain cross her face. She needed a bath to clean all the grime from her infected wounds._

_He filled the tub with warm water and carried the naked girl into the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy, white towel. Gently, he removed the towel and lowered her into the water, smiling at the soft sigh that erupted from her cracked lips. Lathering a wash cloth with frangrant soap, he began the slow process of riding her body of the layers of dirt. He treated her back with extra-care, wincing as silent tears dripped down her face. Next, he shampooed her crusty locks. To his suprise, they washed clean a bright, pastel pink._

_He had almost finished bandaging the freshly washed girl's wounds when Itachi stepped through the door, a bag of necessities piled high in one arm. He tossed a small bottle at the Copy-nin, which Kakashi caught without even looking up._

_"Anti-biotics?" Kakashi glanced at Itachi with a slightly confused look, "How did you know?"_

_The Uchiha smirked in his maddeningly superior manner, "I could smell her infected wounds from meters away. What's the damage?"_

_Kakashi frowned, "Her entire back is covered in deep lacerations that seemed to have been caused by a whip. She has atleast three severely bruised ribs and her entire body is one huge bruise."_

_"I see," Itachi nodded, dropping the bag into a nearby chair. "Pink hair," he mused as he fingered a lock of the girl's now shining hair, "How strange."_

_Kakashi finished banadaging her back and settled the girl under the covers to sleep. She sighed and snuggled into the warmth, bringing a smile to his lips._

_"We are taking her back to Konoha?" It was more of a statement than a question but Kakashi answered anyway._

_"Hai."_

_The Uchiha opened his mouth to respond but quickly snapped it closed as both shinobi turned towards the door. Both exchanged quick glances before dropping into defensive stances, Kakashi with a kunai in each hand and Itachi with his ANBU katana held across his chest._

_'Goddamnit,' Kakashi thought with a dramatic sigh, 'Just as I was finally gonna get some dinner.' And Itachi, always adept at somehow reading Kakashi's__ mind, glanced at the Copy-nin with amusement in his dark eyes._

_Their door burst open, ten mist shinobi entered, the closest one curled his lips into a smirk revealing an ugly overbite. The ninja lunged simlutaneously at their outnumbered leaf enemies._

_Itachi whipped his sword in a graceful arc, cutting deep into the chests of two men. He crouched and swept their feet from under them, watching with a satified smirk as they fell like two heavy boulders. He turned quickly and caught the two kunai that had been aimed for the back of his head. The Uchiha threw them back at the unfortunate kunoichi, watching emotionlessly as the sharp weapons sunk deeply into her eye-sockets, drawing an agonized yell and violent spurts of blood. He thrust his katana behind his arm without looking back, impaling the burly man that had been sneaking up on him. Itachi turned around and kicked the limp body off his sword, his eyes flickering to their crimson form._

_Kakashi tossed three kunai with a flick of his wrist, watching with satisfaction as three nin fell to the floor, convulsing violently. He had nicked their aortas, causing them an almost instantaneous death as they bled out into their chest cavitys. Two shinobi lunged at him from behind. The Copy-nin whirled around, infusing his hands with chakra before smashing the heels of his wrists into their noses. The soft cartiledge was driven back into the brain and the two men crumpled bonelessly to the floor, dead._

_The two shinobi surveyed the room, looking for any survivors. Kakashi was the first to relax, he eyed his victims with distaste._

_"All low-chuunin stength," he said._

_"Hai, they underestimate us."_

_The Uchiha smirked at his silver-haired superior and Kakashi almost rolled his eyes at the familiar look. He opened his mouth to berate the over-confident youth when he saw Itachi's eyes widen slightly and he felt a sharp kunai press agaisnt his throat._

_'Oh shit.'_

_Kakashi's mind frantically deduced that they had missed one nin. Most likely, the others were decoys to keep them occupied as this one crafted an intricate genjutsu to hide himself and wait for the premier oppurtunity to strike._

_"So the famous Copy-nin of Konoha isn't as impressive as he would have us believe," he felt hot breath fan across his neck. This was no inexperienced chuunin, this was a ANBU-level shinobi with a highly impressive chakra capacity._

_Kakashi's brilliant mind flashed across every possible escape-route. He settled on the best one he could find, which promised him a sixty:fourty chance of survival. Just as he was about to put his plan into gear, the kunai threatening his existence fell to the floor and a piercing scream erupted from the enemy shinobi._

_Kakashi blinked and glanced down at the man on the floor who was clutching his head and twitching violently._

_His looked back at Itachi, ready to offer his thanks for whatever the Uchiha had done to save him when something strange caught his eye._

_The little girl was sitting straight up in the bed, her green eyes had switched to a dark, pupil-less black and a twisted smile graced her face._

_Then the man stopped twitching, his screams silenced forever._

_Itachi crossed the room to briefly touch his fingers to the man's neck._

_"He's dead."_

_"What did you do, little girl?" Itachi asked, his voice tinged with shock._

_"I broke his mind," she smiled up at the two men as her eyes slowly brightened to their original viridian hue, "He had very weak mental defenses."_

_Kakashi and Itachi exchanged flabbergasted looks. It's not everyday that a six-year-old girl saves your ass by killing an ANBU level enemy without even touching him._

_'What... the... HELL!'_

XXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Thank you for the reviews my lovelies.

Sakura's past is beginning to come unravelled and ohmygod Sasuke finally makes an appearance, you naughty boy where have you been hiding? Don't worry my lovelie Sasuke-kins, you'll have a much bigger part next chapter.

Poor Sakura, as Kurenai no Chinoumi says, she has Snakey-chan's cooties! XD!

Save her Sasuke, you bum! Get off your pretty little ass!

Currently my cousin is reading this chapter and laughing his ass off. It seems that I am a 'life-less loser' with a 'stupid soul-sucking hobbie'. Well eff you Zack, I hope you overdose on that Midori Sour and throw up all over yourself.

Oh and I'd love some feedback darlings! Please review and you get a naked pin-up of Sasuke or Snakey-chan, whichever you prefer.

Final Pretty Lyric: Changing all the locks... Cause I can't change you.


	7. Her Screams

**Her Screams**

Dedicated to TwistedHarmony, she's just made of awesome. Thank you for Beta-ing, love.

XXXXXXXXXX

...Just what we all need  
More lies about a world that  
Never was and never will be  
Have you no shame don't you see me  
And you know you've got everybody fooled...

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade arched one meticulously plucked eyebrow. Logic told her that what Kakashi was implying could not be done. They were shinobi; they performed genjustu and ninjutsu, not magic and the impossible. "Let me get this straight…You're saying she broke his mind?"

Kakashi nodded, dragging a hand through his messy, silver hair that always found a way to defy gravity. "Imagine, having a pink-haired little brat save your life," he smiled as if lost in a fond memory before a grimace of shame slid across his face, "It goes without saying that it wasn't the highlight of my career."

The blond bombshell drew her knees to her ample chest and wrapped her arms loosely around them. "But what exactly did she do to that mist shinobi...? And what happened when you brought her to Konoha?" There were so many holes in this story that just didn't add up in her head, and Tsunade was impatient for all of the details to click in place so she'd know this was reality and not her imagination.

"We questioned her but she seemed confused, as if she thought it was normal to kill humans without even touching them. When we brought her to Konoha, Sandaime was surprised. He recognized her power," Kakashi paused here, letting an ominous silence fill the air, "the kekkai genkai of the Kurohoshi clan."

"Kurohoshi?" Tsunade frowned, "Never heard of them."

"Hai, they were supposed to have died out long ago, in the time of The First Hokage. They have the ability to manipulate your mind in many different ways." Kakashi's one visible eye narrowed in concentration as he spoke. "They can view, change, destroy or plant new memories. They can listen to your thoughts and even make you feel intense pain, pleasure or grief. The Sandaime believed Sakura overloaded his brain with such intense phantom pain that he had a brain shut down from the shock. He was dead before he hit the floor."

"Amazing," The Godaime breathed with wide eyes that quickly narrowed after a strange expression of understanding dawned on her face.

"Hai," Kakashi continued darkly, "But every blessing comes with a curse. The Kurohoshis are all plagued by an intense bloodlust that deepens in intensity with every use of their power. When the Kurohoshis lose control, they must kill to return to normal. Every time they fall into their bloodlust, their lifespan shortens dramatically; most only live to see thirty," He finished, his voice a low and ragged whisper.

Kakashi saw Tsunade visibly tremble at his last words. She said nothing so he continued.

"The scrolls I brought back from Orochimaru's building contained information that the Kurohoshi tribe had been surviving in secret. The once great tribe had dwindled in number to a mere ten people. Orochimaru stole five year old Sakura, the youngest, and murdered the rest of the tribe in cold blood. He then tried to manipulate her DNA to rid her of the fatal bloodlust, but fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the way you look at it, he did not succeed."

Tsunade's eyes widened, "So that means..."

Kakashi nodded grimly, "Yes, Sakura was the original candidate for his body transfer technique."

Tsunade took a deep breath and let it out in a huge whoosh, a strange smile pasted itself on her full lips. "Well, that's certainly ironic." This was all so surreal.

Kakashi continued with his story, "The Sandaime believed that if he sealed her memories and her powers, then she would be able to lead a normal life. We assumed that Orochimaru believed that his little test subject had died in the explosion, so we didn't fear him coming to take her away from Konoha. We had Jiraiya create a strong, five-element power and memory seal for her. Then we gave her to an obscure civilian family, the Haruno clan. He planted memories of a false childhood in her mind with the help of some ANBU hypnosis techniques."

"So that's why you were so opposed to the idea when I considered marking her with the blue diamond?" Tsunade tapped her own mark with a pink-tipped nail. "Your reasoning that she was 'too young and far too inexperienced' was just an excuse?"

"Yes. The power of your seal would have reacted violently with the energy of Jiraiya's seal resulting in instantaneous death..."

"And you couldn't tell me the whole truth then?" The Godaime burst out in anger at having been kept in the dark about a secret that had the potential to endanger Konoha's safety.

"I was sworn to secrecy by the Sandaime under penalty of death. It was the only way."

A heavy silence fell over the pair, and to Tsunade it felt like it was almost choking her. She rubbed her sweaty palms through her limp, blonde hair while her molten amber eyes stayed fixed on the motionless Sharingan user, the famed Copy-Nin.

"Out of all my genins, Sakura scared me the most." Kakashi turned his gaze to the dark sky, "I didn't want to risk teaching her anything powerful. Her seal was weakening with time; I couldn't afford to have it break."

He took a deep breath, "It hurt, because every time I turned down her requests for training, she smiled so sadly at me. She always said, 'Maybe next time Kaka-sensei' and though she always tried to hide it, I could see the pain in her eyes."

Tsunade watched as a few chinks fell from the steel armor that coated the silver-haired shinobi.

"This time... I can't, no... I won't fail her," his hands clenched at his side in determination as his gaze remained locked on the rising sun, giving dawn to a new day, and a new resolve that burned bright in the two nin sitting side by side.

They would bring her back... even if it cost them their lives.

XXXXXXXXXX

Uzumaki Naruto lay shirtless and spread-eagled on the cool, grassy ground. The smooth moonlight highlighted the dips and hollows of his sculpted chest. His blue eyes echoed the sky, deep and fathomless. His brow was furrowed and his lips drawn into a vicious frown.

That was how Hyuuga Hinata found him, an unearthly statue amidst a field of late blooming dandelion weeds.

"Hinata-chan?"

She started slightly as he spoke her name, a shiver running down her spine. His eyes were still fixed on the sky as he invited her over with a wave of his hand.

She settled herself next to him, close enough to feel the heat radiate off his body.

"Something's really wrong, Hinata-chan," the blonde closed his eyes, "It's eating me up inside."

Hinata raised a slightly trembling hand to tuck a disobedient, spun-gold lock behind his ear. "What is it, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto raised himself up on his elbow and opened his eyes. Frantic azure met widened pearl and Naruto pressed the hand that lingered on his face hard to his cheek.

"I keep hearing her screams, Hinata," she could see his blind fear by the way his hand shook slightly on top of hers.

"Whose?" Hinata leaned closer to the distressed man, her other hand moved to slowly stroke soft, blonde hair.

"Sakura."

_XXXXXXXXXX_

Uchiha Sasuke shot awake, a thin coat of sweat filming his body.

His breathing was heavy and laboured.

'SASUKE!'

He could still hear her screams echoing endlessly in his head. He tangled his fingers in his obsidian hair and pressed his hands against his temples, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to block out the phantom pleas.

This was not an odd occurrence for the Uchiha, he often woke up in the cloak of dark from nightmares... but they had never been this realistic, the screams had never been this real.

"Please, Sasuke-kun," she had asked him on her hands and knees, "Please, help me."

He had watched as snakes wrapped tightly around her ankles, slowly winding up and constricting the breath from her body. She had panicked, her body trying to twist away from the living ropes. "Please Sasuke-kun," this time she begged him, tears pouring out of her bright, emerald eyes.

He tried to reach out to her but he was frozen, frozen watching as the snakes travelled up her heaving chest and around her slender throat.

"Sasuke," his name trailed out of her lips with a soft, heart-broken sigh and the snakes came up to cover her completely.

But not before he caught one last glimpse of deadened green eyes.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Sakura-chaaaaan!" The adorable six-year old Naruto with sparkling blue eyes grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the swing-set._

"_Sakura-chan! I want candy and shrimp__-flavoured_ _ramen and peanut-butter-rasberry-chocolate-swirl-ice cream and beef_ _flavoured_ _ramen and barbeque chips and chicken_ _flavoured_ _ramen and dango and miso_ _flavoured_ _ramen and-"_

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it there little guy," she picked up the cute little ball of sunshine and hoisted him onto the swing, "We'll get you some ramen afterwards, okay sweetie?"_

"_Okay Mommy, thank you! I Love you!"_

_'Mommy? I'm not Naruto's mom.'_

_Sakura frowned as she pushed the little boy into the air, listening to his squeals of happiness. As she continued to push, the handle bars began to writhe under her fingertips. They turned into hissing snakes, snapping at her with venom dripping off their fangs. She gasped and fell backwards onto her rump as the Naruto-look-alike turned to look over his shoulder at her... but something was wrong._

_His hair wasn't blonde; it was straight and black, falling over his shoulders. His eyes weren't the blue of a gorgeous morning sky, they were yellow._

_Black hair and yellow eyes._

_He smiled __a deceiving __angelic smile at her, his sharp fangs glinting in the cheery, afternoon sun._

_Black hair, yellow eyes and fangs._

_She screamed._

_Everything was dark, an empty void. She sat on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chest, rocking slowly back and forth._

"_Okay, Mommy, thank you! I love you!"_

"_Okay Mommy, thank you!"_

"_I love you!"_

"_Thank you!"_

"_I love you!"_

"_Thank you."_

"_Sasuke-kun, I'd do anything for you! I-I love you more than anything!"_

"_Thank you, Sakura."_

"_Thank you."_

"_Thank you."_

"_Thank you."_

"_I love you."_

_Black hair, yellow eyes and fangs._

_The darkness_ _spiralled_ _over her head and encased her body like __molten_ _metal. Her lips parted to let loose a scream but no sound escaped._

_Three figures appeared before her, just in reach of her cold fingertips._

"_This is so troublesome."_

"_Oh look, it's the hag."_

_She gazed up into the brown eyes of her_ _favourite_ _pineapple-haired ninja. Her hands reached out, one caught a hold of Sai's hand and the other held the edge of Neji's robe. They would help her; they would save her from this hell hole._

"_Shikamaru! Sai! Neji! Help me please!"_

_The three Nin did not spare her a second glance, turning on heel and walking away. Neji's voice was __tinged with_ _disgust_ _as he shook off her grip, "Go away Sakura, We don't have time for you."_

"_We don't have time for you."_

"_I love you."_

"_Thank you."_

_Black hair, yellow eyes and fangs._

_Her world exploded with pain._

Orochimaru concentrated more chakra into the black seal as he watched the dreaming girl writhe in pain. He had transferred her to a soft bed and tied her ankles and wrists to the bedposts with chakra enhanced silk ropes. With one final burst of his dark energy, the seal dissipated and the pink-haired girl arched straight off the bed in a way that made the blood rush down to the nether regions of his body, arousing him with the site of her wrything sensually in pain. Her eyes popped open and instead of the customary green, they were as dark as glinting, faceted onyx.

His lips curled into a smirk, "The beast has awoken."

She was screaming louder than she ever had in her life. This pain was worse than anything she had ever felt before and her throat burned from the intensity of it. Memories were ripping through her skull as her mind rearranged itself. Her chakra-system stretched and widened to accommodate the new boost of power that came along with her kekkai genkai.

Orochimaru turned to the silent Kabuto, "Watch over her, I have a training session with Sasuke-kun in a few minutes." Kabuto nodded, his lips twisting into some semblance of a smile.

Orochimaru could not resist pressing a hard kiss to her mouth before he left. Damn, she was a good fuck. He couldn't wait to use her again and listen to her addicting screams.

"I'll be happy to watch her, Orochimaru-sama." He pushed his glasses farther up his thin nose. He watched Orochimaru leave the room with a satisfied look on his face.

'I can't wait for my own taste.'

XXXXXXXXXX

The day dawned grey and misty, weak sun filtering in through the large windows of the Hokage office.

Tsunade gazed at the shinobi standing in front of her, a sad depth to her usually fiery honeyed eyes. Naruto noticed the dark shadows under her eyes and the tightening of her pale lips. Tsunade was utterly and completely exhausted, even if she hid it very well.

Again that feeling of terrible wrongness hit Naruto like a punch to the gut.

"I have something very important to discuss with all of you," the blonde slowly bent forward to rest her elbows on the table. "Involving Haruno Sakura."

Immediately the atmosphere of the room darkened. The air became as thick as molasses as the shinobi as a whole tensed for bad news.

Naruto closed his eyes and felt a distant cold numbness envelope his whole body.

'No, no, no.'

"Though Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Neji have made in back from their mission with moderate injuries, Haruno Sakura," Tsunade took a deep breath, "Has been captured by Orochimaru."

Naruto was the first to react; he fell to his knees, eyes wide with disbelief. Then he snapped, "Not again, not again, please not again," he whispered his broken mantra as he sobbed unashamed, tears sprawling down his cheeks. Hinata fell gracefully next to him, wrapping a shaking arm around his shoulder as tears spilled down her own cheeks.

Sai stared blankly at the wall, his open hands clenching into tight fists. Ino held back a sob and wrapped her arms around her body, her legs trembling. Sai snaked an arm around her waist and she collapsed against him.

Lee closed his eyes and tried to restrain himself from punching a hole through the wall. Genma, echoing his thoughts, actually did punch the wall, leaving hairline cracks in the plaster.

"We're bringing her back," Kakashi's voice cut through the grief and anger. He spoke with such assured confidence that they all turned to look at the masked man.

Tsunade nodded, "I am forming a retrieval squad for the safe return of ANBU Captain Haruno Sakura. This is an S-Rank mission and therefore, you are given the opportunity to turn it down. The team will be as follows: Uzumaki Naruto, Sai, Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Hinata, Rock Lee, and Shirinai Genma with Hatake Kakashi as leader."

Suddenly, the door burst open with a vicious bang. A purple haired jounin walked in, a fierce sneer on her pretty face. "Hell no, you guys decided to have a little party without me?"

Kakashi radiated annoyance as he glared at the woman who had just stormed in, "This is a private meeting, Mitarashi."

The woman turned incredulous eyes to the Copy-nin, "What crawled up your ass and died, Hatake?" She snorted slightly when she saw him stiffen. "Oh right, I guess losing two of your students to Orochimaru would do that to you."

"Go away; I don't have time to play with you, Anko." Kakashi's voice dripped caustic venom.

"Shut it puppy, I'm not here for you."

The Hokage raised one questioning eyebrow, "What were you doing eavesdropping, Anko?"

"I've been Sakura's sensei in the use of the Katana ever since 'Kaka-sensei' and 'Tsunade-shishou' were 'far to busy' to help her pass her ANBU exam," Anko smiled mockingly at Kakashi definitely goading him. "I'm definitely going to get her back home."

"As am I," Temari stepped up, her blue eyes hardened to ice.

"Don't forget us."

They all turned to see Shikamaru and Neji in the doorway. Temari's shoulders slumped with relief, her eyes met Shikamaru's and she smiled through her tears. Tenten fell to the floor, "Thank god," she whispered under her breath.

"We can't afford anyone to slow us down, you are both wounded," Sai spoke coldly.

"We are fine," Neji spoke, equally icy, "In fact, we are in perfect health."

Sai raised an eyebrow and Neji knew that he noticed his almost imperceptible limp and the ginger way Shikamaru held his body. Sai said nothing more but his eyes conveyed a deep message.

'Slow us down and we'll leave you behind.'

Tsunade shook her head, massaging the bridge of her nose, "I can't take much more of this. Anko, if you are set on going then I will allow it this time as long as you remain obedient to Kakashi. Temari, you are not under my command and so I cannot control your actions. Neji and Shikamaru, both of you are still recovering but I suppose you are set on going as well?"

Neji and Shikamaru nodded, determination written on their pale faces.

"All right, the finalized retrieval squad will be Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, Sai, Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino, Mitarashi Anko, Rock Lee, Shirinai Genma and Hatake Kakashi as leader. You leave as soon as possible. Be safe," the blonde waved her hand in a dismissive manner and the jounins disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Tsunade took a deep breath, a strange stinging sensation radiating in her chest.

"Is it really smart to send out so many of our strongest ANBU and jounin?" the tall toad-sannin stepped out of the shadows, "We are in a red-alert for war with Mist and Sound."

The blonde reared like a wounded lioness defending her cub, "What would you do in my place, Jiraiya? What would you do if Naruto's life was on the line?"

Jiraiya was always amazed at how beautiful she was when she was angry. Her cheeks flushed pink, her lips drawn into a sexy snarl, her chest heaving. The toad-master smiled sadly at his former teammate, "Naruto's life has always been hanging by a thin frayed string. His survival is always uncertain."

Tsunade allowed a bitter half-smile to cross her lips, "But you would do anything to save him from harm."

"Yes," He admitted honestly. But then his eyes grew serious, "They may have been sent to their own deaths."

"I know," Tsunade fisted her hands into her hair and willed the tears not to fall.

"I know."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke formed the seals with the practised ease of an elite shinobi. He pursed his lips and blew out thick, blue flames. The fire turned to twisting snakes in mid-air, their flaming bodies charging at Orochimaru. Orochimaru formed the same seals and released his own fire snakes into the air. They met in the middle in a flurry of snapping teeth and blue sparks. Orochimaru was the first to dispel his snakes and Sasuke followed suit.

"Amazing progress Sasuke-kun," the snake-sannin placed a hand on his cocked hip, "I think that's enough for today."

The obsidian-haired Uchiha did not reply, his crimson eyes stayed fixed on his teacher. Finally, he nodded almost imperceptibly and brushed past his sensei.

"Oh, and Sasuke-kun..." Sasuke turned and cocked an eyebrow, "Try to get some sleep, you look awful."

The Uchiha resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he walked the last few steps to the door. He placed a hand on the stone knob and released a pulse of his chakra into the mechanism. Every entrance into the new base was altered to only allow specific chakra signatures inside. He stepped into the darkened hallway, his face instantly thrown into flickering relief by the bright torches.

"Did you hear about Orochimaru-sama's new toy?"

Sasuke stepped deeper into the shadows, casting a simple genjustu around him to conceal his presence. Three sound Nins rounded the corner, leaning against the wall almost directly across the Uchiha.

"Yeah, she's one hot piece of ass." A blonde shinobi said, licking his lips.

His darker haired companion laughed, "You've seen her?"

The blonde one nodded, "While she was being moved down the hall. Nice ass, gorgeous face, pink hair and legs that go on for miles."

The third Nin, a busty redhead, scoffed loudly, "Most likely just a whore picked up from that nearby town."

The blonde rolled his eyes, "Jealousy is unbecoming, Manami."

"Shut up Juro!" Manami hissed, flipping her vibrant hair over her shoulder, "Besides, I bet Sasuke-kun would prefer me to some diseased slut anyways, right Ichiro?" She turned wide blue eyes and a seductive pout on the dark-haired Nin.

Ichiro raised a flirtatious eyebrow, "Baby, if you just asked, I'd show you a better time than Sasuke ever could."

Before Manami could utter a scathing rebuke, she saw something move in the corner of her eye. "S-Sasuke-kun?" Her eyes widened as the object of her affections stepped out of the shadows.

"Sasuke-sama," the two other Nin dipped their heads in respect.

Sasuke pushed past the flabbergasted Manami, grabbed Juro by his throat and slammed him hard against the wall. The smaller Nin choked and spluttered, clawing at Sasuke's iron grip with comparatively kitten strength. Sasuke leaned closer, "Listen and listen very carefully," he said in a dangerous whisper. "I need a one word answer and you better be fucking sure that it's the truth. Are you sure the woman had pink hair?"

Juro nodded frantically, "Y-Yes," he managed to squeak out. Sasuke immediately dropped the Nin, not bothering to stay and watch as he slid down the wall, inhaling massive gulps of oxygen.

A single thought, a single name drove him to impressive speeds. He was gone before the sound Nins could even blink, before Manami could even yell out his name.

'Sakura.'

XXXXXXXXXX

A/N: This chapter equals uber-urkish-annoying-monster. So TwistedHarmony and I attacked it with ultra-light-sabres-of-doom.

Oh and if you were wondering, the italics were Sakura's dream scene. She's tripping out dude. Oh and for those who want the actual rape scene, it will be coming into play in later chapters.

Spank you, all those amazing reviews made my day! You guys are the shit, fo' shizzle.

Review are very greatly appreciated and squealed over. And hey they inspire my muse, so you guys get your chapter faster.

Chapter seven previews: Our main characters finally meet! God forbid, Sasuke and Sakura in the same room...


	8. All Falls Down

**All Falls Down**

XXXXXXXXXX

_I think we have an emergency_

_If you thought I'd leave, then you were wrong_

_'Cause I won't stop holding on _

**-Emergency: Paramore.**

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I told you that you would be mine, little flower."

Kabuto's lips trailed lazily over her cheek, leaving deceptively sweet butterfly kisses in their wake. His right hand fluidly moved from the skin of her exposed shoulder to the curve of her bloody breast. While his left snaked up to tangle in her messy, rosette locks and angle her head to better receive his kiss. Her lips were cold and unresponsive under his assault and she did not resist as he pushed his tongue forcefully into her mouth. His kiss became more aggressive and he smashed her against him, devouring her. The hand on her breast began to roughly roll and squeeze and the already abused flesh began to bleed anew.

He pulled away from her delicious mouth and glanced down at the gorgeous picture she made. Her mused pink hair contrasted vibrantly with the black silk of the pillow and the pale white of her face. Her half-lidded emerald eyes were unfocused and shiny with delirium, her lips red and swollen from his violent kisses. Her body was bare with the exception of the purple silk sheet twisted over her hips. His eyes skimmed over her lean arms, her perky breasts and her toned stomach.

She was such a pretty toy. And for the moment, all his.

Kabuto paused briefly, taking in the familiar chakra signature, "Sasuke-kun, if you want your own turn with her you're going to have to wait 'till I finish."

The next second, he was pinned against the wall with a hand at his throat.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke felt anger bubble deep in his stomach; it burned up his throat and left a sweet acidic taste on his tongue. It was a taste he knew well, perhaps one he even relished because it covered the bitter flavour of pain and regret. He twisted his fingers deeper into Kabuto's skin, smirking inwardly as he felt the slight increase of his pulse.

The fury he had felt when he had seen the medic-nin molesting his former teammate had turned his vision red, literally. He felt immeasurable anger at Orochimaru for capturing her, at Kabuto for touching her, but mostly his fury was directed at the pink-haired shinobi for allowing herself to be captured. She had always been the weakest of team seven, hell she was the weakest of all the Rookie Nine. He always had to save her because hell knows she couldn't save herself. Once again, the weak little girl that had no business being a shinobi had barged her way back into his life. And once again, he had to rescue her.

_You never used to mind being her knight in shining armor,_ that little voice in the back of his head mocked him, _in fact, you actually enjoyed it_. Rebelliously, he squashed down the thought and focused back on Kabuto's smirking face.

"If you wanted her that badly, you could have just asked," Kabuto's voice, though slightly raspy from lack of air, was quite nonchalant. "Too bad she's already damaged goods. Orochimaru already had his fun with her... multiple times."

Before Kabuto could even blink, a kunai was lodged deeply in between his ribs.

The medic-nin's eyes widened with pain. He violently coughed up blood which Sasuke easily avoided with a calculated shift of his head. "It seems I've misinterpreted what you feel for our pretty, little cherry blossom here," Kabuto's eyes were angry and cold. Sasuke's face was emotionless as he twisted the kunai with the sole objective to cause pain. Kabuto hissed in agony, his face twisting in an ugly parody of his former expression of rapture.

"So you'll kill me for this stupid little whore?" Kabuto knew he could not fight the Uchiha. That would be suicide.

The last thing Kabuto ever heard was Sasuke's voice, dark and slightly amused, "Yes," and the cheerful chirping of a hundred birds.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi pumped more chakra into his legs, extending his leap by almost 35 percent. Naruto and Shikamaru, flanking the elite jounin, increased their pace as well. The chain reaction continued from Neji, Sai, Ino, Temari and Hinata to finally reach Anko, Genma and Lee.

Ino secretly promised to whatever god was listening that she would never skip training in favour of a cherry-almond exfoliating face treatment (at the Konoha Spa) if she could keep pace with Kakashi and the rest of the boys for the rest of the way without fainting. The thought of Sakura in Orochimaru's clutches was the only thing that drove her forward.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was on his very last shred of patience. He knew he could easily go twice the speed they were currently travelling and he was ready to pull his hair out by the roots. This was his Sakura, the little girl he needed to protect at all costs. The corrupted, cynical, emotional-wreck of a girl he considered his daughter. The beautiful, innocent, sweet girl he had completely failed.

_Kakashi took another sip of his heated sake, the alcohol burning pleasantly down his throat as a pink flash raced quickly towards his location._

"_Kaka-sensei!" The sixteen year old managed a small smile for his benefit. She rarely smiled anymore since Naruto left for the second time. _

"_Sakura," he lifted his hand in a lazy caricature of a greeting and his crinkled eye hinted at a warm smile. Said girl bit her lip nervously and tucked a strand of bright pink hair behind her ear as she slid onto the stool beside him. He noticed her hesitance instantaneously and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "What is it you needed?" Kakashi watched with amusement as she steeled her features and lifted her head proudly to stare directly at his face._

_Sometimes she was just way too cute._

"_Kaka-sensei, I was wondering if you could maybe... um teach me a new jutsu?..."_

_Instantly Kakashi's hand removed itself and he averted his eyes from his ex-student._

"_Kaka-sensei?" Even though he remained right beside her, emotionally he was miles away, "It's just that the jounin exam is coming up and they won't even consider me unless I have a special technique under my belt."_

"_I'm busy today. I'm sure you'll find someone better to help you, Sakura," he mechanically ruffled her hair and took another sip of his rapidly cooling liqueur._

"_That's okay Kaka-sensei," her small smile was sad as she observed her ex-sensei with equally sad eyes._

_He walked away from her that day, the weight of her smile lying heavy on his heart._

_It hurt. _

_It hurt to cause her pain like this. It hurt because he knew he could teach her a hundred different jutsues that would fit her unique style. With her chakra control and sharp mind, she was any teacher's dream student. It hurt to see how hesitant she was to ask him for help. She had to practically beg for his training while he had offered it to Sasuke and Naruto freely._

_But he wouldn't train her. _

_He __**couldn't**_ _train her._

_Team seven. His own little team of budding tragedies._

"Kakashi, we need take a break," Genma's voice broke through the cloud of his thoughts.

Kakashi snapped back to the present, a soft growl erupting from his lips. He turned mid-jump to lock the senbon-weilding jounin in a fierce stare. Genma's eyes seemed to plead with him and he flicked them subtly to Ino and Hinata, both of which were on the verge of collapsing with fatigue. The rest of the group also looked worn to the bone and Kakashi could clearly see that Neji's slight limp was worsening. He noticed the way Shikamaru's shoulders had slouched far past his usual lazy posture. As much as he wanted to leave them all behind, he knew that he could not.

He lifted one hand straight up into the air, his pointer and middle finger bent and tucked into his palm. A silent signal to land and regroup on solid ground. Instantly, the eleven elites disappeared and reappeared in a small clearing protected by the thick foliage of trees.

"Four hours," The silver-haired copy-nin all but growled before he turned on heel and stalked into the woods, his lazy slouch all but a distant memory.

Temari immediately set her bag on the floor and lay down, "I suggest we all get some sleep. We need to be at our best to kick some Sound Nin ass." Genma, Lee, Ino, Hinata and Anko found wisdom in the wind-kunoichi's words and bunkered down to follow her example.

Naruto, on the other hand, closed his eyes and clenched his fists, his long choppy bangs hiding his eyes from view. The blonde turned his back on his friends and slowly began to walk away, following in Kakashi's footsteps. Tendrils of hostile red chakra were seeping out of his skin and it looked as if the malicious energy had formed an evil halo around his entire body.

"Naruto-kun...don't worry, everything will be alright, I promise." The soft-spoken Hinata sat up and reached a hand out to him, trying to calm the self-proclaimed future Hokage. She would say anything to take away his pain and in that moment she would have promised him the stars if he had only asked.

Slowly, the blonde turned to face the pretty Hyuuga. The expression of pure rage on his face made her shrink back against the tree behind her. His eye-lids snapped open revealing fiery red orbs with sharply slit pupils. His lips pulled up into a snarl and his elongated canines flashed in the afternoon sun. "Is that what you really think Hinata?" Despite his appearance, his voice was pure Naruto, edged with cold disbelief and sadness.

"Don't speak to her like that!" The blonde-bombshell shot to her feet and glared at Naruto, "Stop acting like you're so much more affected by this than the rest of us. And you can stop taking out your fucking anger on those that only want to help, you spoiled ungrateful brat." Belatedly Ino realized she had probably overstepped her boundaries, but her high-strung emotions and the tension and the pain of Sakura's capture had made her temper much more volatile. After all, Ino had always been one to provoke the beast.

Perhaps it was only the combined efforts of Sai, Neji and Shikamaru that held Naruto back from clawing Ino into bloody ribbons. Naruto took a deep breath and relaxed against the constraining arms. When he opened his eyes, they were cold blue ice chips.

"Look closer Ino, there is a spoiled ungrateful brat around here but it sure as hell ain't me." With that said he disappeared into the forest, his aura radiating a single message, 'Stay away from me... or else.'

The poor Hyuuga heiress just stared after her long-time crush in disbelief and confusion. Ino on the other hand, began to grumble about 'rude blondes' with a dire need for 'anger management courses'.

"Ino, be quiet," Shikamaru turned sharp eyes on the girls, "Both of you should think before you speak in front of Naruto."

Hinata raised shocked eyes to meet Shikamaru and opened her mouth to respond but Neji cut her off. "If you haven't noticed, you should both open your eyes and look at what Naruto has become. He's not that annoying, mouthy, stupid kid that rushed headlong into every situation anymore. He's grown up and the horror of shinobi life has finally sunk into him. He's a hell of a lot smarter then the Naruto you knew, but he's also a hell of a lot more jaded. But even though Naruto's changed so much, there are three things he still holds sacred. The first one is promises. Naruto is still fighting to fulfill the promise he made to Sakura on that day when they were twelve. You should know better to make such an empty promise to him when he's already fighting his instinct to destroy everything within a three mile radius," Neji's last sentence was directed at the Hyuuga heiress.

Shikamaru turned to his blonde comrade of team ten, "and Ino just shut your mouth before you manage to do even more damage."

Hinata dropped her head in shame, gnawing viciously on her chapped lips. She understood what Neji was conveying to her, but she felt hurt that Naruto would turn his back on her, especially when she had given him comfort just hours before. While Ino seemed subdued, hurt deeply by her teammate's words but struggling not to show the pain on her face.

Sai turned curious eyes on the Hyuuga protege, "What are the other two things that Naruto holds sacred?"

Neji raised a single eyebrow, as if the answer was painfully obvious.

"Sakura and Sasuke."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Sasuke-kun," the voice slithered silkily from the doorway, "that was very, very naughty of you."

Sasuke calmly removed his arm from Kabuto's chest cavity with a sickening 'squelch'. The dead man fell limply to floor in a pathetic heap, landing face down in a pool of his own dark blood. His killer turned slowly to meet the gaze of the yellow-eyed snake just a few feet away.

Orochimaru's lips pulled into a mocking grin at his star pupil. "What's the matter Sasuke-kun? You look stressed." He did not need to see Sasuke's eyes flick quickly to Sakura and back to know the reason for the Uchiha's quiet rage. The snake-sannin walked over to the unaware Konoha-nin with an air of nonchalance, "She is quite something isn't she?" Orochimaru reached out to touch the dreaming kunoichi's face but his wrist was caught in Sasuke's steel grip.

"Don't touch her."

Orochimaru's mocking smile widened to reveal sharp canines, "Too late, Sasuke-kun." He leaned in until he was just a few inches away from the Uchiha's face. "I did a lot more than just **touch**..."

Sasuke's grip tightened on his wrist until he felt the bone snap under his fingers, like a dry twig. Orochimaru clucked his tongue and shook his head, "You'll have to control that dreadful temper of yours or I might get very, very angry."

Sasuke whipped out a kunai and stabbed it viciously in Orochimaru's left eye, moving slightly to the left to avoid the graphic spray of blood. "Stop fucking with me, _Sensei_," Sasuke's words were heavy with cynicism.

The sannin's one remaining eye was darkened with amusement. "Have it your way, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru's body literally melted into snakes, his pale skin molting into shiny scales. The writhing bodies fell to the floor in a hissing heap, pink tongues flicking rhythmically out of their mouths.

Sasuke easily turned to block the six kunai aimed for crippling points on his spine, his hands flashing with almost inhuman speed. He caught the last one on his pointer finger by the ring and allowed it to spin out its momentum while infusing the metal with a lightening charge. Knowing his 'Sensei's' love of dramatics, Sasuke tossed the kunai back with an exaggerated flourish. Orochimaru caught the kunai the same way with a mocking smirk that quickly dropped off his face as an expected shock coursed through his body.

Sasuke took this moment of his enemy's disorientation to launch an attack. "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu)," a fireball of massive proportions went hurtling towards the snake-sannin, gathering size as it went.

The sannin ducked to the side, his body still stiff from the concentrated electric shock, but he was unable to dodge the enormous attack. His left arm and part of his chest suffered what were sure to be nasty, oozing burns.

Orochimaru growled. His arms were next to useless thanks to the Sandaime's jutsu, but he was still able to use a few jutsu that did not channel chakra through his arms and matched his affinity to snakes. He formed a seal and blew out a bright blue mass of fiery snakes, the same jutsu he had taught his prodigy not even an hour before-hand.

The snakes hit Sasuke head on, curving around his form with their insubstantial bodies, until he disappeared in a poof of smoke and the hissing mass was forced to recoil.

Orochimaru blocked a vicious kick aimed at his head by grabbing Sasuke's ankle in a reverse grip and flipping him face first into the ground. The Uchiha stretched out his hands and stopped his fall, kicking out with his remaining leg and catching Orochimaru in the throat. The sannin returned the favour by raising his knee into the Uchiha's stomach and knocking the wind straight out of him. Sasuke powered chakra into his hands and forced himself into a rolling back-flip, removing Orochimaru's grip from his body and vaulting himself a few meters away from his teacher.

"Doukugiri! (Poison Mist)," The sannin pursed his lips and sprayed a noxious stream of poison in his student's direction.

Sasuke smirked and acted quickly, his fingers flying through the seals. "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Art of the Phoenix Flower)," Sasuke knew that this particular poison was incredibly flammable. The watermelon sized fireballs brushed against the droplets of airborne poison and the green mist immediately caught on fire, spiralling quickly back to Orochimaru's open mouth. The sannin quickly shut his gaping orifice and flipped backwards to avoid the fierce flames rushing at him with terrifying speed.

"Suiton: Teppodama (Water Release: Gunshot)," Orochimaru fired a simple water jutsu to put out the threatening fireballs now arching gracefully towards him. The jutsu easily extinguished the flames but Orochimaru almost failed to notice the sharp kunais hidden in the midst of every fireball, now just a millisecond away from embedding themselves in his flesh. Orochimaru cursed his own student's sharp intelligence and quickly preformed kawarimi, though not quickly enough. He emerged from the attack with a kunai buried in his left upper thigh and another lodged in his left shoulder joint.

It was becoming painfully clear that Sasuke was easily dominating the fight. The Uchiha's form was still flawless and precise while Orochimaru was quickly becoming lax and substituting sheer power for his waning technique.

Sasuke pressed two fingers sharply into Orochimaru's mid-back and sent a burst of chakra into his spinal cord. He did not have the chakra control of a medic, but he had copied enough of Kabuto's technique to freeze the sannin's muscles from the neck down for thirty seconds.

When Orochimaru realized his student's intention, instead of trying to dodge, the sannin formed his hands into a seal and whispered something under his breath. Then he crumpled to the floor in a boneless heap as Sasuke's attack took effect.

The same moment that Sakura began to scream.

'Sakura,' The Uchiha was immediately at the pink-haired girl's bedside. She was arching off the bed, pain sending her muscles into violent spasms. Her fingers were clawing viciously at her left hip as if to tear her skin to pieces. Sasuke carefully trapped her wrists in one of his hands and with the other he lowered the purple sheet slightly to determine the cause of her pain.

In stark relief on her sheet white skin, was a glowing, throbbing curse seal.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade took another gulp of sake, loving the burn of the fiery liquid as it snaked down her throat. It was a delicious aged bottle that she had saved for a special occasion. And hell, it seemed that getting drunk would be the best thing for her right now, maybe because getting completely and totally shit-faced brought her closer in some twisted way to Dan.

"You're not closer to me, you idiot. I'm just a drunken hallucination that your alcohol-drowned mind has created."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes playfully at the man leaning casually against her cherry wood desk. "Shut up," she slurred, sauntering up to the grinning man, "And that's Lady Idiot to you."

"So sorry," he grinned cheekily at her and bent forward to peck her on the lips, "My Lady."

"Damn straight," Tsunade whispered against his lips before leaning in to deepen the kiss.

Dan pulled away, laughter in his light eyes, "You know I don't take advantage of drunken women."

She grabbed a handful of moon-kissed strands and pulled him back to her mouth, "Then let me take advantage of you."

It was a gentle, chaste kiss, full of achingly sweet unrequited love that had never diminished, even after all these years. It was beautiful and amazing and breath-taking and everything Tsunade had been deprived of. She could taste his hesitation and taste the salt of her own tears; she could taste his pain and her own acidic heartbreak.

And suddenly she crumpled like a house of cards, her body shaking violently with grief. He held her calmly in his strong arms. Her world was crumbling to pieces all around her and these few minutes of peace in his embrace were a godsend.

"Everything's going wrong," she whispered, "Sakura's gone, Konoha is on the edge of war and I'm falling apart. I can't be the strong Hokage they all want me to be."

"You can 'Nade, you are the strongest woman I have ever met, in every way. You already are that strong Hokage; just have more faith in yourself." He cocked a pale eyebrow, "You sell yourself short."

She smiled tearfully up at him, "Thank you." Another kiss was his reward.

"Tsunade-hime," she whimpered softly and pulled him closer as she heard the pain in the tone of his voice and tasted the bitter word 'goodbye' on his lips. "I have to go now. Just promise me you'll be careful."

She nodded firmly, "I will..." Her arms curved gracefully around his neck and her fingers curled protectively into his clothes. "I love you Dan."

He embraced her tightly, "I love you too... Tsunade-sama."

"Tsunade-sama..."

"Tsunade-sama!"

"Tsunade-sama!!"

The blonde beauty started awake, knocking over her sake bottle in the process. She groggily watched the precious liquid drip onto her green carpet with a long-suffering sigh before hesitantly raising her eyes to meet Shizune's black ones.

"Tsunade-sama," the assistant placed a gentle hand on her master's shoulder, "You really should stop drinking that much.

The Hokage actually hung her head slightly in shame, "I'm sorry Shizune, it's just this week hasn't exactly been easy for me."

Shizune nodded sadly, "Sakura's disappearance has been hard on all of us." She deftly up righted the sake bottle and mopped up the mess with a handful of tissues.

"If that's all Shizune, I'd like to be alone."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama." The black-haired woman dipped her head and left the busty blond to herself.

And only in the grim solitude of her office did Tsunade let herself cry.

For everything she had lost and everything she still had to lose.

XXXXXXXXXX

Orochimaru could only remember feeling true fear once in his life. When Sarutobi-sensei had caught him red-handed in the act of stealing forbidden jutsus in the Hokage's vault, he had felt a true lick of fear curl up his spine. His whole life, his breeding as a proud Konoha-nin was sacrificed in that moment and he knew he could never return to his old life ever again.

But staring into cold, burning Uchiha eyes was like staring the devil straight in the face. Orochimaru realized that even if he wasn't paralyzed for a few more seconds, the sheer ferocity of those obsidian depths would have froze every muscle in his body.

_Five_

Sasuke slowly began to walk towards the body of his limp sensei. His steps echoed on the cold concrete, surprisingly loud in the tension-loaded silence that had fallen over the room.

_Four_

Orochimaru felt a hand grip his collar and haul him up to eye-level. His boneless body slumped awkwardly but Sasuke's arm easily supported his weight.

_Three_

Sasuke slid his katana out of his sheathe and placed it against Orochimaru's pale, vulnerable throat.

_Two_

"The minute you touched her, you sealed you own fate," Sasuke's words, though spoken in a monotone, held a lilt of pleasure at his sensei's imminent death.

_One_

Just as the numbness faded from Orochimaru's muscles, Sasuke slid his katana smoothly across his throat. The skin parted like butter under a hot knife and a hot spray of arterial blood coated Sasuke's throat and chest.

The sannin's eyes became wildly panicked and he began to struggle against Sasuke's restraining grip. Sasuke frowned and pushed back Orochimaru until he was against the wall. He stretched out Orochimaru's arm until it was parallel to the floor and drove a kunai through the soft flesh of his palm and deeply into the concrete wall beyond. He did the same for his right hand, making absolutely sure that the dying sannin would not be able to escape.

Then Sasuke walked a few paces away, pausing and turning at Sakura's bedside. Orochimaru watched him with hooded yellow eyes. His weakening heartbeat was expelling the blood out of his body with every resolute pump and his eyesight was slowly becoming fuzzy.

"Goodbye Orochimaru, see you in hell," The Uchiha prodigy was almost uncharacteristically cheerful as he flashed through the hand seals, a smirk dancing on his lips. "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu)."

The last thing Orochimaru saw was a gigantic fireball rushing towards him... and then there was nothing.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Sometimes I wish we were lesbians."_

_The pink-haired girl then proceeded to shower the blonde in a spray of raspberry __flavoured_ _vodka._

"_Was that really necessary?" Ino sighed as she moved her alcohol and saliva soaked bangs out of her eyes._

_Sakura glared balefully at her, "Well next time, do my lungs a __favour_ _and wait 'till after I've swallowed to drop a bomb on me. I don't think drowning my bronchioles in alcohol is particularly good for them anyway."_

"_Think about it," Ino flopped back on her four-poster, canopied bed. "No troublesome men, no hairy chests, no raunchy gym smell, no 'hey baby, let's have a quickie in the jounin lounge'."_

_Sakura plopped her chin in her hand and smiled dreamily, "No ass-grabbing, no loud farts, no emotionless bastards."_

_The two jounin sighed and the stars faded from their eyes. Ino glanced at her friend and grimaced, "Sorry Sak-chan, you just don't do it for me."_

"_It's the pink hair, isn't it?"_

"_Nah, it's the lack of a penis."_

"_So if I had a male-genitalia, you'd be all over me? But then you wouldn't be a lesbian. You'd just have an odd fetish for transsexuals."_

"_Sakura... shut up."_

"_You're just jealous that my imaginary penis is bigger, longer, thicker and hairier than yours."_

"_You've been spending way too much time with Sai."_

_Sakura's eyebrow arched and a lazy grin spread across her face. "Jealous?"_

_Ino, self-proclaimed sluttiest kunoichi in her year, turned the most delicious shade of candy-apple red. Sakura's grin widened to 'Cheshire cat' proportions._

"_Sweetie, admit it. You've fallen for Sai."_

_Ino's baby-blue eyes widened with feigned innocence, "I don't feel anything for Sai."_

_Sakura snorted, "Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining."_

_Ino blinked and her mouth fell open in a very unattractive way._

"_Honey, you're drooling. I know I'm the fucking sexiest thing you have ever laid your eyes on but really, you're embarrassing me."_

_Ino gawked for all of three seconds before she tackled the pink-haired demon she called her best friend to the ground. The two tussled for a few minutes, giggling in a high-pitched, slightly drunken manner, rolling around in a pool of spilt green-apple vodka._

_Neither girl heard the lazy knock on the door or the sound of the door creaking open. The girls looked up to the sight of Shikamaru and Sai goggling at them like they were rabid squirrels on crack._

_Sakura was the first to recover, a fierce look of mock anger on her face. "Jeeze all we wanted was an afternoon of hot lesbian sex without interruptions."_

Ino woke with a start, her laughter dying on her lips. The shinobi around her were still sound asleep and she knew that Sai was currently on guard. The blonde gazed blankly into the distance as memories continued to flash through her mind.

Gods above, please keep her safe.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke felt a small amount of tension leak away from his body as he eyed the smoking body of his former sensei. The snake-sannin was mutilated to the point of being unrecognizable; his facial features were literally burnt off his face, now resembling a distorted mask of melted wax. His hair had been singed straight off his scalp and his body was now just a blackened, twisted figurine.

Sasuke turned and looked upon the mess of a girl sprawled across the bed, and immediately his brain kicked into high-gear. The chance of survival after receiving the curse mark was loosely one in ten and the odds became worse if the victim was not taken care of during the "change".

Sasuke slowly lifted her legs up to free the trapped sheet before wrapping it tightly around her shivering body. He gently lifted her into his arms, bridal style, pillowing her head on his shoulder and holding her close to share his body heat. The sooner he got her somewhere safe and warm the higher her chances of survival would be. Sakura moaned loudly as tears escaped her closed lids and trickled down her cheeks. Sasuke was reminded of the pain that the curse seal inflicted on him during the chuunin exams. The stoic Uchiha almost winced; it had not been a fucking day at the beach that was for sure.

He'd be damned if he let her die on him, Sasuke's grip tightened slightly on the limp woman in his arms. _After all, this is Sakura we're talking about,_ his increasingly annoying inner voice stated loftily, _now let's get the fuck out of here_.

He noticed a bag in the corner of the room and correctly assessed it as Sakura's pack. It would be useful to take it with him considering that it would have some essential supplies and a change of clothes for his naked burden.

He shifted her minutely and hoisted the pack onto his shoulder. Then he removed himself from the room and struck course for the nearest exit. Sasuke knew there was no need to destroy the base, with the head cut off, the rest of the serpent would flail about and die. Sound would remain in utter chaos for a while before all the shinobi would disperse and become 'homeless nins'. Without Orochimaru, Sound was nothing.

He sent a pulse of his chakra once more into the doorway to gain exit from the grim hallway. The door yielded to his hostile energy and Sasuke slipped into the night like a noiseless shadow. Without a backwards glance, Sasuke made for the forest.

"T-Thank you for s-saving me..."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly in surprise and he glanced down to see hazy, black eyes gazing beatifically up at him. Trembling arms slowly came up to twine around his neck and grip him like a lifeline. Sasuke felt something constrict in his chest as the delirious pink-haired girl looked up at him with so much love and trust written openly on her pain-stricken face.

"...Sai."

XXXXXXXXXX

Oh jeeze, this chapter was a freakin mofo to write. I had basically finished all of it but something just didn't seem right. Oh well, I hope it came out the way I wanted it to and I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Goodbye Oro-pedo, see you in hell. And poor Hinata, why is Naruto being so fierce to her? Forget Hinata, poor Sakura! Jeeze! At least Sas-gay has finally saved her from the evilness.

Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews! Honestly, you guys make my day, my night, my afternoon and my evening.

Thank you Twisted-Harmony for the amazing beta-ing and the snarky comments. I wish you goodluck in your patio-furniture endeavours.

Please review! They inspire me more than anything and please feel free to give me any ideas/suggestions that would make the story better.

'Spank ya!

-Tempest


	9. Reflection

**Reflection**

XXXXXXXXXX

"_She won't make a sound  
Alone in this fight with herself and the fears whispering if she stands she'll fall down."_

Stand In The Rain – SuperChick

XXXXXXXXXX

"You slept with Orochimaru?"

She shook her head frantically, her body beginning to tremble desperately.

"No, no, Naruto... It wasn't like that..."

"Then what was it like, Sakura?" His eyes were frozen pools of sapphire, gazing at her with contempt and disgust. She tentatively reached out to touch his hand but he flinched and drew in back as if her flesh was diseased and rotting.

"He... I... he forced me."

The derisive laughter that echoed hollowly in the dark room made Sakura wince and draw back. The sound was almost physically painful as it scraped her raw with hurt from the inside out.

"Are you trying to tell me he _raped _you Sakura?" The laughter subsided but a cold, amused smirk lingered on his lips, "Why steal what you can take for free, you whore."

She flinched at the word, her eyes growing glassy with tears.

"You're the Hokage's apprentice, the third-ranked ANBU captain in all of Konoha and you couldn't fend him off? It's because you wanted it, you stupid slut."

"S-Stop Naruto... that's... that's not true... I... I... couldn't stop him..."

"Don't pull your horseshit excuses on me. And besides," he raised a golden eyebrow, "Isn't that why Kakashi-sensei taught us those suicide jutsus?"

Her mouth fell open, dumbfounded shock flitting across her face. "You don't mean that Naruto..."

"Every _fucking_ word."

_Whore._

_Stupid slut._

I'm so sorry Naruto...

XXXXXXXXXX

Who the FUCK was Sai?

A brief memory flashed through his mind: A black eyed boy with equally dark hair and an amusingly gay way of dressing. Sasuke almost winced; did he really look so much like that fruit?

_You do quite resemble that vampiric homosexual. _Sasuke almost scowled as his inner voice stated its opinion.

There were more important things at hand then arguing with himself. He settled Sakura more comfortably in his arms. Her half-open eyes were as dark as his and they continued to regard him with warm affection. Sasuke felt a fierce stab of jealousy tear through his chest for this 'Sai' who she obviously cared for so much. What was their relationship? Was she intimate with him? Was she in love with him?

_You're turning green, pretty boy _that same annoying voice muttered in the back of his head.

He wondered for the millionth time whether he was indeed going insane before shaking the thoughts out of his head. Sakura was just a temporary annoyance that he was obligated to deal with. As soon as he could, he would return her to Konoha.

_Keep telling yourself that_. If evil little voices could roll their eyes then Sasuke was sure that his would be falling out of their sockets.

And why were her eyes black?

Sakura's eyes had always been the light, pure green of malachite. _Aren't we getting poetic_, the voice snickered. 'Shut up, before I shut you up', Sasuke thought fiercely and surprisingly the voice quieted.

This was getting far too strange. Why would Orochimaru even want Sakura? He already knew that even Tsunade could not heal his arms so he couldn't have needed her for her healing ability. Her strength was probably chuunin level at best, so it wasn't likely he wanted to craft her into a weapon.

For sex?

His eyes darkened further as the thought crossed his mind. Yes, he knew that Orochimaru had raped her; his chakra-powered nose could smell the snake-sannin's stench oozing from her body. But kidnapping someone just for sex wasn't Orochimaru's style. He wanted something more from her and her body was just a nice bonus on the side.

The question was...

What did Orochimaru want?

XXXXXXXXXX

"Let me get straight to the point, Orochimaru's dead..."

Tsunade cocked a mildly amused eyebrow as each member of the Clan Council reacted in a different manner. Akimichi Chouza's mouth fell open; a hunk of half-chewed sashimi flopped out of wide-open hole and fell on the polished oak table below. Nara Shikato's eyes became so large that Tsunade entertained the thought that he looked like a 'deer caught in a light-flare jutsu'. Yamanaka Inoichi leaned forward, lost his balance and promptly fell out of his chair. Hyuuga Hiashi scoffed and flipped his long hair back, a look of disbelief on his face. Aburame Shibi stayed silent and unmoving but his bugs began to buzz in an agitated cloud around him. The other various clan heads looked on the verge of fainting or tossing their oatmeal-raisin cookies. The only member that seemed composed was Morino Ibiki, who leaned back in his chair, hid his smirk as Yamanaka Inoichi clambered as ungracefully as a ninja could back into his chair.

As the men regained their composure, Tsunade allowed her eyes to flick to the empty chairs around the long table. It was a hierarchical system, with the oldest and most powerful clans sitting closest to her and the newly formed clans residing at the end of the table. Hyuuga was, of course, seated on her right. On her left, an empty chair clothed in dark blue and speckled with tiny white and red fans. A chair between Ibiki and Shikato's was marked with the tiny birds representing the 'Raikiri'. A beautiful red clothed chair was on the left of the empty Uchiha chair, marked with brushed blue swirls, 'Rasengan'.

"Orochimaru cannot be dead. He has developed that body-snatch jutsu to perfection and the Sound village has grown to rival the power of the Five Great Shinobi nations. It is highly, I stress highly, unlikely that Orochimaru has succumbed to death." Murmurs of agreement whispered around the table as Hyuuga Hiashi allowed a smug smile to grace his thin, bloodless lips.

Tsunade smashed a delicate fist down on the table, hairline cracks spread like a spider web across the glossy lacquer. Her eyes flashed with anger.

Nara Shikato raised his hands in a placating manner as the fierce ruler of the country eyed Hiashi like she would like nothing more than to thrust a fist through his skull. "I'm sure what Hyuuga-san means is that we thought Orochimaru was as close to immortal as a human can get. It is hard to believe that he could have died so suddenly."

The first female Hokage flicked her eyes back to the table-top as unwanted emotions bubbled within her. Orochimaru was dead. Memories of Team Sarutobi rose from that forbidden box in the back of her mind but fiercely, she shoved down the lid. He was her enemy and the enemy of her people. He was a traitor not the little boy that had once been her teammate.

Tsunade closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath as a comforting hand came to rest on her shoulder, reminding her that she was not alone. Jiraiya squeezed her reassuringly before taking a seat in the red chair marked with the Rasengan pattern.

Instantly, a gasp resounded all around the table. Two men shot to their feet, glaring at the toad-sannin with venom in their eyes.

"What are you even doing here? You are not a member of the Clan Council, Jiraiya," Shirinai Daisuke said with a tepid glare, his voice creaking with his great age.

"That seat is reserved for a member of the 'Namikaze' clan. It is considered a great disrespect for you to defile it with your presence," Hyuuga Hiashi's pale skin was flushed a very slight red with anger.

Jiraiya raised one white eyebrow and leaned back comfortably in his seat. "I am here as the Hokage's personal advisor." He turned mildly amused eyes on the Hyuuga leader, "I am merely keeping it warm for my student."

Hyuuga scoffed, "That demon brat should have been whelped as a child. It shows how far our great nation has fallen that we let even monsters become shinobi."

Jiraiya smiled at the arrogant man but his eyes flashed with cold anger. "I'm feeling generous today, Hyuuga-sama, so I'll let that one pass. But the next time, I'll be happy to cut your tongue out of your head for you."

The Hyuuga wisely shut his mouth. Something in the firm set of Jiraiya's chin told him that he would be more than ecstatic to carry out with his threat.

The Yamanaka Clan leader cleared his throat to break away some of the tension. "So how do we know for sure that the snake-bastard is dead for good?"

"Sound shinobi have approached Mist, Grass and even Hoshi, claiming they are now homeless Nins and seeking refugee status." When a ninja village is destroyed, its occupants trade their village symbol for a piece of blank metal. This signifies they are ninja that are searching for a new home. Because many countries held a vendetta against Sound, it was in the best interest of its remaining ninja to assimilate themselves into other countries so their enemies cannot take revenge on them for past crimes.

Murmurs of glee and disbelief erupted around the table, drowning the room in a cacophony of chaos.

"Silence," Tsunade pounded the poor table twice with her formidable fist, instantly re-gaining order. Jiraiya decided that as soon as this meeting was over, he would talk to Kotetsu about getting Tsunade's furniture reinforced with steel bars.

"So what will we do, Hokage-sama?" Aburame Shibi's deep voice cut through the penetrating silence.

Tsunade cast a side-long glance to the toad-master two chairs down from her. "Jiraiya will send a message to the squad that has already started in that direction. They will be asked to investigate these events along with continuing their prior mission."

Jiraiya nodded and jabbed his thumb with a senbon he had been toying with. He easily summoned Gamichi right on the table-top, ignoring the incensed murmurs of some of the more conservative clan members.

He leaned in to whisper into the toad's tiny ears. "Yes Boss," the creature mock-saluted him with a webbed front-leg before leaping out the window with one kick of its powerful hind legs.

"And now?" The Hyuuga asked in his maddeningly superior way.

"Now... we wait."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke hands twisted into the last seal 'hebi' and a shimmering, semi-permeable barrier formed over the mouth of the cave. It was a particularly useful jutsu that kept the wind and the rain out while freely allowing fresh oxygen to breeze in the cave.

Job finished, Sasuke let out a very slight sigh. This cave had been an amazing find. Not only was it sheltered and protected by underbrush but it seemed to be connected to an underground, geothermal source. In the back of the cave was a slow moving stream of hot water that disappeared under the wall to flow into what he assumed was a nearby hot spring.

The first thing that Sasuke decided was on his agenda was removing the thin collar that circled her throat. With precise control, he formed his chakra into a hot scalpel, cutting through the enchanted adornment easily. He tossed the twisted scrap-metal to the side of the cave, ignoring the loud clang.

The sheets that had been twisted around Sakura's body were now dirty and blood-encrusted. He needed to clean the wounds to ensure that they would not get infected.

He removed his clothes with the exception of his boxers and lifted the limp girl into his arms. Then, he slowly stepped into the waist-length water. It was deliciously warm and lightly steaming, flowing sluggishly around his form. He removed Sakura's sheet from her body before he gently lowered her into the depths while keeping her head carefully above water. Instantly the water clouded pinkish red with her blood.

She moaned and her body tensed hard against him. Pained mumbles fell freely from her lips and Sasuke felt her chakra shrivel in her anguish. For emotionally powered people such as Sakura and Naruto, chakra was directly connected to their feelings.

Securing his grasp around her limp body with one arm, he tilted her head to wet her hair. His fingers gently weaved through the strands and removed the traces of blood and sweat. Then he cupped water in his palm and washed the dried tear stains from her face.

The pink cloud finally dissipated to reveal raw, still-bleeding flesh. The pale skin was covered in curling asterisk flowers and twisted vines, starting from her collarbone and trailing down her chest and stomach. The lines were smooth and deliberate, morbidly beautiful. On her right hip was a name signed in kanji; an artist, marking his masterpiece proudly.

Orochimaru.

Black eyes bled to crimson once more and his body began to shake with anger. That fucking son of a bitch. The curse seal began to spread like a throbbing cancer, trailing up his pale shoulders and caressing his cheekbones. The shaking subsided and the fierce rage turned to cold fury that burned dryly in the pit of his stomach. The hatred that filled him to the brim was like hot, molten fire, Sasuke felt like screaming and hitting something until his hands were worn to bloody stubs. Sasuke closed his eyes and indulged himself in a calming breath, the mark receded reluctantly back into its source. He should have made that snake bastard's death much more painful for daring to mark what was his.

Wait... when did he start thinking of her as his?

Come to think of it, he had always thought of her as his. Naruto and Sakura both belonged to Sasuke; they had belonged to him for what seemed like eons. They were his, pure and simple. No questions asked.

He rose from the water and stepped back on dry ground. Rivulets of water trailed down his battle hardened body, skimming over his hard muscles and pooling on the ground. He flared his chakra around him and the pink-haired girl, infusing it with a tiny bit of his fire affinity. The water evaporated easily off their skin and rose into the air in the form of curling wisps of steam. Even his boxers returned to their former dry state.

A flash of lightening briefly bathed the cave in a brilliant flash of light. Thunder soon followed, shaking the earth with its tremulous might. The rain pounded the ground with punishing force, unhindered by the shrieking wind.

As if reacting to the wrath of the storm, her stiff body began to convulse violently. She was shaking so hard Sasuke had to clamp his arms tightly around her to keep her from escaping his grasp.

"Please stop... no... NO... don't please... Naruto I'm sorry... Sai, Neji it hurts please stop him... Shikamaru please... I need you... Sasuke... SASUKE... SASUKE!"

"Shhh, I'm right here Sakura..."

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Neji!"_

_A pink flash barreled into him at the speed of light, knocking him down like a bowling pin. _

_Neji mentally snorted and blinked the dust out of his eyes, it wasn't even nine a.m. And he could already feel a migraine building behind his eyes._

_Frantic green eyes stared down at the mildly annoyed shinobi, merely three inches from his face. The emerald-eyed Tasmanian devil sat up, straddling his stomach, hands braced on his shoulders. Her face was flushed from her run and strands of pink clung wildly to her sweaty face as she tried to catch her breath._

"_Neji," the girl repeated, digging short nails into the material of his standard, dark blue jounin shirt. _

_The dark-haired shinobi merely quirked an eyebrow at her, waiting for the dramatic out-burst that was sure to happen._

_Three _

_Two._

_One._

"_I THINK KIBA'S GAY!"_

_See, told yo- wait... what the fuck?!_

"_An hour ago, Kiba got home from that B-Rank mission he was sent on and he came over to surprise me. He woke me up and we started making-out, nothing too hot and heavy. But when I was kissing down his throat, he... he... HE STARTED MOANING SHIKAMARU'S NAME!" She punctuated every word by shaking Neji by the shoulder, unknowingly using some of her super-human strength. With every shake his head would slam into the ground, making a deeper and deeper crater with each hit. Neji did not bother to stop her, just closed his eyes and wondered if he had any pain-meds at home to deal with his worsening headache._

_When she seemed to notice that she was actually harming her white-eyed friend, the seventeen year-old blinked. "Sorry," she passed a glowing hand over the back of his head and instantly Neji felt cool relief flood his senses._

_Half-laughing and half-sobbing, she toppled off him and collapsed next to him, lying spread-eagled on the ground. "What is with me? Am I the biggest fruit fly in Konoha or do I just turn men gay?"_

_Neji blinked, "Fruit fly?"_

_Sakura tapped a finger against her chin as she explained, "You know, a girl only attracted to fruity, gay men..." A wicked gleam flashed through her expressive eyes, "But then again, I'm not attracted to you at all so maybe there's hope for me yet."_

_Neji's right eye twitched._

_She sighed and her eyes fluttered shut, "I mean that bastard went off to get anal-ed by the snake-pedo. Ranmaru told me straight out that he would much rather fuck men then even touch me. And now Kiba is moaning Shikamaru's name. I swear to god, I'm freaking cursed."_

_Neji tried to keep the amusement from filtering onto his face but he was unable to keep it from dancing in his eyes. _

_Shikamaru, Sai and himself had been responsible for the second male she had 'turned' gay. Ranmaru had been a terrible womanizer known as a 'walking STD' by many of the male shinobi. Sai had overheard him drunkenly boasting that he had finally gotten that 'hot pink-haired medic chick' to go out with him. He went on to say that he was going to 'get that bitch drunk off her ass' and named a few dozen sexual acts he would act out with her including: 'I'm going to get that bitch on her knees and force-feed her some tube-steak'. Sai had reported back to Neji and Shikamaru and the three had formed a plan to knock some sense into the jounin... and maybe some teeth out of him. Neji still remembered the look on his face as himself and his teammates cornered the man in an alley. Shikamaru had explained with a warm smile on his face that the 'hot pink-haired medic chick' was currently unavailable and that she would be unavailable for sometime to come. The friendly way Shikamaru spoke to Ranmaru was easily disputed by Neji and Sai. The former of which was spinning a sharp kunai on his thumb by the ring and the latter was twirling multiple thick senbon between his fingers. The scared-shitless jounin had booked it to Sakura's house, muttered some bullshit excuse about being gay and had then fled to the Hokage's office to put in a request for a two year border mission. _

"_Think of this logically Sakura, are you sure it wasn't just a misunderstanding?"_

_Said girl huffed and pushed herself into a seated position so she could look into his eyes. "He said, and I quote," her voice mimicked Kiba's deep tone, "'Mmm Shikamaru... that feels so good, do it just like that baby'. Does that seem like a misunderstanding to you?"_

_Neji looked up at the girl and the amusement faded away from him. Though her face was a blasé mask, he saw the raw pain swimming in her eyes. This was an old hurt for her, something that she had never been able to overcome: The fear that she was inferior, weak and ugly. That no one would ever genuinely want her. _

"_Come here," he grasped her hand and pulled her down to the ground again, gently but firmly. She gasped in surprise but allowed him to do as he wished. He then tucked her against his side comfortably and threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She snuggled against him, closed her eyes and buried her face in his shirt. _

_They stayed like that for more than an hour, just basking in the warmth of the other's presence. Sakura took comfort from the solid, unmovable male against her, a unchanging constant in her life. Neji appreciated this woman who liked him for who he was, not a Hyuuga, not a respected jounin, not one of the strongest Nin in the village but a friend, a true friend._

"_Hey guys, am I interrupting something?"_

_The two jounin glanced up at the spiky-haired ninja who was slouching carelessly against a nearby tree._

"_Nope," Sakura extended a hand on her free side, beckoning her friend. The brown-eyed male sighed quietly and took her hand, lying down beside her. The three friends gazed up at the clouds, partially hidden by the leafy trees of training ground thirteen._

"_So... what's going on?"_

_Both Sakura and Neji snorted; though Neji's was softer and much more elegant (how the Hyuuga could manage to make a snort 'elegant' was still a mystery)._

"_My boyfriend wishes I was you, Shikamaru."_

"_Oh okay..." He closed his eyes and settled more comfortably against the tree. Neji and Sakura exchanged a slightly amused, mostly exasperated glance. He knew that Sakura was hurting, not because she felt deeply for Kiba but because betrayal was a sensitive issue for the pink-haired beauty. However, he knew that this would not stop her from having her fun at the expense of the Nara. Sakura held up a hand and silently counted down her fingers, 'five, four, three, two, one.'_

"_What?!" The words finally snapped in the ninja's usually lightening quick mind and his mouth fell open._

_Sakura worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "I should have known our relationship was falling apart when he got me toilet paper printed with corny jokes for Valentine's Day."_

"_Oh that's where you got that stuff... I find it quite amusing to read," Neji said thoughtfully._

"_So that's what you were doing when you were in my bathroom for an hour. Silly me, I thought you were helping yourself to my plethora of hair products."_

"_My hair is one hundred percent natural, you jealous female."_

"_Surrrrreeeee Neji, that's why Hinata keeps complaining that her __favourite_ _peach-scented frizz-serum disappears every time she buys it." She leant closer to the Hyuuga and made a huge show of sniffing his hair._

_Neji decided to put his faith into the most effective trick in the book, distraction. "Shikamaru, you look like you're going to throw up."_

_Sakura turned her head to glance at the genius who was slowly turning a pretty, sea-foam green shade. "Hey Homo-cake, relax a little. I mean, shouldn't I be the one turning fucking rainbow __colours?_"

_Shikamaru physically flinched at the word homo-cake. Sakuras brow frowned slightly with worry, he didn't usually respond to her homo-jokes at all. "Honey, is everything okay?"_

_Shikamaru turned haunted coffee eyes to meet softened green, "Ì just remembered... I have dinner with Kiba tonight."_

_And in the background, there was an ominous flash of lightening._

Neji started awake, his all-seeing eyes blinked open and then shut tight with grief. He realized that dreaming about her had just increased the pain, the swirling amonia burning his insides.

The Hyuuga shoved off the cloak that had been draped over his body and let himself out of the tent, careful not to wake the slumbering Lee. When the vicious storm had started, they had been forced to set up camp and wait out the storm.

Three steps away from his tent and the rain had already drenched his to the core, plastering mahogany locks uncomfortably to the back of his neck.

"Can't sleep either?" Shikamaru's lazy drawl held more than a hint of bitterness.

The Hyuuga flicked his eyes to the genius who was standing under an oak tree, he had used his wind affinity chakra to create an invisible air-sheild to protect himself from the rain. Neji scowled lightly and made for his friend. Shikamaru obliging stretched the shield to cover the Hyuuga as his comrade came to stand beside him.

"I miss her," was Neji's only answer.

Shikamaru flicked open his lighter and tentatively lit a cigarette, cupping the precious stick with one hand as he waited for the tabacco to light.

They settled into a silence, watching the rain pound the grass and forcing it to bend to it's will. There were no cynical jokes or sarcastic quips lightening the heavy air, nor was there the tinkle of a jaded laugh to break the gloom.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke watched, transfixed, as the fire-light played on her pain-drawn face. In the safety of this cave, sheltered from the rest of the world, Sasuke allowed himself to fully examine the girl he had saved. His eyes greedily drank in the way pastel strands feathered over her forehead. The way her dark, sooty lashes, fanned out against pale cheeks, the delicate arch of her nose and the determined curve of her jaw. The way her chapped lips parted slightly to reveal a glimmer of pearly teeth. The way her rosette eyebrows formed straight, severe lines as pain wracked her form. The slight indents in her cheeks that hinted at shallow dimples.

She turned her head sharply to the right and the cool compress flopped to the floor. Sasuke picked it up and bathed it in more cooled water before placing it back on her forehead. He brushed his fingers lightly against his skin and was pleased to find that her skin was cooling. Her fever had broken and now was passing out of her body in the beads of sweat that rolled down her face and neck.

She was such a flash from the past that just gazing at her ungodly bright hair was enough to transport him back to the year he became a genin, the year when he had been placed in a team with the dead last and the annoying fan girl. The year he had learned to form lightening into a deadly sword of destruction. The year he had learned that the world wasn't just pain, desperation, anger and guilt. The year he had learned to smile and laugh again, the year that he learned to love.

Love?

Yes love. He did love the three annoyances that made up Team Seven. He loved Naruto the way he would love a brother. Kakashi was more of a father than the one he had lost so many years ago. But he could never love them in the classic sense of the word, his view of both relationships were far too skewed, far too twisted by life and tragedies.

And Sakura?

She was not a sister to him that was for sure. Nor could she be described as a friend. She was the annoying girl from his three man cell that he had somehow come to care about. She was an unwanted link to the past he could not forget but just looking at her made him feel... something. He could not describe the tightness in his chest and the clenching fist around his stomach.

'Stupid girl,' he thought as he stared down at her sleeping face, 'I was just trying to protect you.'

Sasuke's hand brushed against her fingers as he was tucking her more securely into the blanket. Panic flooded through his body, her fingers were as cold as ice. He gently moved the blanket up and felt the rest of her arm; it too was freezing under his touch. He recognized that her body was reacting violently to the curse seal and hypothermia was quickly setting in. Already her fingers were turning a chalky colour; the blood had retreated to keep her extremities warm. Sasuke tugged the girl once more into his lap and tucked the blanket around her, trying to warm her body. Soon, imperceptible shivers had turned to violent tremors. She was shaking like a leaf in his arms. Sasuke knew that he needed to share his body heat with her.

Placing the girl back on the blanket he had spread on the floor, Sasuke quickly stripped back down to his boxers. He dragged the girl and the blanket close to the fire but still far enough to avoid burns and sparks. Then swiftly, he slipped under the covers and spooned her against him. Her icy back was flush against his chest and his arms came around to rest on her stomach. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the blissful feeling of silken skin against him. But it was harder to ignore her satisfied little sigh and she snuggled deeper into his embrace. Her body still shivered violently but he could tell that his warmth was a big relief to the pink-haired shinobi in his arm. Even with his heat combined with the fire at her front, Sasuke worried that it would not be enough to bring her body out of hypothermia's grip. Gently, he flared his chakra around her and infused it with his fire affinity. His energy tingled over her body, focusing on her hands and feet that were blue with lack of blood.

"You can't fucking die on me now," he whispered softly into the shell of her ear.

_Because I don't know what I'll do if you do. _

XXXXXXXXXX

Her eyelids felt hot and she could see the red glow of light through the thin flap of skin. Sakura opened her eyes, only to be blinded by the warm brilliance of the sun. Quickly, the kunoichi shut them and allowed the abused retinas to bask in the darkness for a few moments. Then slowly, she blinked them open again and shielded her gaze with her hand.

The view that surrounded her took her breath away. Early morning sunbeams danced on the tips of dewy grass blades, setting the whole meadow aglitter. Puffy marshmallow clouds floated in the sky, so delicious looking that she felt the fleeting urge to grab one and pop it in her mouth. She could see all around her for miles because no trees blocked her vision. The occasional crimson poppy and silky forget-me-nots peppered the smooth monotony of green. She could smell the scent of grass and the perfume of wild-flowers. The warmth of the sun kissed her face while the damp, earth was cool under her fingers.

She blinked too clear her vision, there was no place this beautiful on Earth, no place so calm, serene and perfect. It was almost like being encased in a living, three-dimensional painting.

"Where am I?" the sound of her voice seemed out of place in this ethereal place.

"Within yourself, my dear."

She started and jumped to her feet, instinctively reaching for a kunai but finding her pouch gone. Sakura lowered herself into a defensive position instead and narrowed her eyes.

She was met by glittering black eyes watching her with mild amusement.

"Inner Sakura?"

"The one and only."

Sakura gaped at the girl across in utter shock. They were identical, from the lengthy-pink hair to the long slender legs. The only real difference was instead of the customary green, inner Sakura had black pupil-less eyes that seemed to absorb the very light around them.

"What the fuck... is going on?" Sakura's baffled look was so Naruto-esque that it was almost scary.

"This," Inner Sakura waved a flighty hand to indicate their surroundings, "Is the world your mind has created."

"I don't... know what you mean..."

"Don't you remember, Sakura," Inner Sakura smiled sadly, forlornly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You are no longer a Haruno."

A bright flash of red streaked through Sakura's vision. Yellow eyes and the glint of sharp canines filtered fuzzily through her memory. She fell to her knees, clutching her head as the pictures continued to fuzzily swim in her mind's eye. It was painful, reliving her time at Orochimaru's lair. She could almost feel his hand trailing lazily up her thigh, his knife sliding easily across her skin. The recollections of his hot breath streaming across her cheek and his long tongue made bile rise viciously in her throat.

The green-eyed kunoichi leaned over and dry-heaved into the pristine grass. The urge to purge every bit of him out of her body was so intense that her whole body shook with the effort. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes but she refused to let them spill over her cheeks.

Slowly, two strong arms wrapped around the poor kunoichi, cradling her as if she was a child. Sakura tucked her face into the warm crook of the other woman's neck and threw her arms around her, her heart-wrenching sobs wracking her entire body. Inner Sakura murmured little words of comfort as she rocked the woman in her arms, her heart breaking for her other-self.

"Shh, you're okay now," the black-eyed woman said softly, feeling cool tears slide down her throat. When Sakura finally stopped trembling, her tired body limp in her alter-ego's arms, Inner Sakura began to speak.

"You have to know the truth and we don't have much time left in this place before you wake up."

Sakura nodded weakly and dragged her body into a sitting position, removing herself from her black-eyed inner.

"So do you remember your life with the Kurohoshi clan and the time you spent with Orochimaru after he abducted you?"

Again Sakura nodded, she remembered the child that she had once been.

A lonely pink-haired girl with a big imagination and an even bigger forehead; She was not a golden child filled with potential to be great like Naruto nor was she the serious, broody child filled with the will to excel like Sasuke. No, Sakura was an introverted child with a sweet disposition and quiet intelligence. She had a penchant for wandering into the wildflower fields near her house to gaze up at the sky, just thinking.

She remembered the cold-quirk of her mother's smile and the harsh laugh that always resonated from her father. She remembered the cold land that was her home and the large mansion she had lived in for such a short period of time. But most of all she remembered her brother's smile. He had been a young teenager when she was six with long, dark-pink hair that he kept tied back with a strip of leather. Her parents had been so disappointed when he had shown no signs of having inherited the 'Kurohoshi no Arashi' 'The Storm of the Black Star', the kekkai genkai of their clan. They looked down upon their only son and instead put pressure on their twin girls, Setsuna and Yumi, to unlock their kekkai genkai. In all of this, their youngest was virtually ignored and shoved in the background.

'Kaiya,' Sakura vaguely recalled through the haze of looking into the past, 'My birth name was Kaiya.'

And then, she remembered the day that Kurohoshi blood stained every surface in that forsaken house. She remembered her mother's stiff cry of surprise as a tall, snake-like shinobi thrust a sharp katana through her stomach cavity. She died slowly as the acid started to eat her alive from the inside, an excruciatingly painful way to die. Her father had died in a much more merciful fashion, a single slice with a kunai and he had bled out from his jugular in less than three minutes. Her sisters had been raped by the snake-man's men, their screams rising in crescendo until finally they were cut short with twin slits across their throats. Her brother had been beaten to a death and lay prone on the floor, his body resembling a broken rag-doll thrown aside by a brooding child.

She remembered cold arms lifting her out of her hiding place in the kitchen cupboard and darkened yellow eyes examining her like a piece of meat.

_Hello little flower, you belong to me now._

The memory of his deep voice, stained deeper with pleasure sent a shiver of disgust through her body.

Things went fuzzy after that but she clearly remembered waking up shackled like a farm animal to the wall. A collar around her neck kept her chakra suppressed and needle-pricks on her arm marked the place that blood had been drawn from her body.

She remembered the desperate hunger that had curled in her stomach and the fierce desire to eat anything, anything at all, and the constant ache that had driven her past insanity and into the world of delirium. She remembered crying, raging and throwing herself against the weight of her chains, screaming and wishing to die, until she only had the energy left to lie limply and gaze at the ceiling.

She remembered a tall, masked man step through the doors of her cage. When he saw her blatant fear and shaking body he had removed the stark white face-covering. He was a silver-haired angel, almost glowing in this dark and dirty room, so beautiful, she could have cried. His uncovered eye was wide with shock and his froze and just stared at her. She remembered that she should be wary, he could merely be a genjustu designed by Orochimaru.

She remembered the dark-haired teen that traveled with her silver-haired angel, his black eyes like twin tunnels. She remembered seeing the darkness within him, as clear as the morning sun to her childish gaze.

Everything after that was a blur but she vaguely recalled being taken to Konoha and stepping in to the Sandaime's office. She remembered a tall, white haired man spreading kanji over her body and around the floor in a large pentagon. She remembered his hand, cool against the burning skin of her stomach, spreading chakra into her body. And after that, there was nothing.

"Jiraiya sealed my memories?" Sakura said softly to Inner-Sakura, "And Kakashi-sensei was the man who saved me from Orochimaru so long ago?"

"Yes," Inner Sakura smiled sadly and closed her black eyes, "And you know why they did it because you know all about your Kekkai Genkai now."

And Sakura did.

She knew she would probably not live to see thirty. She knew she was a danger to everyone she loved because of the volatility of her blood-lust. She knew she could lose herself so easily that it scared her.

"Now you must know what I really am," Inner Sakura said softly. "When something as powerful and volatile as your kekkai genkai is sealed away the residual power that leaks from the seal must go somewhere. I am a manifestation of your power, the entity that was created from those power leaks."

Being the smart kunoichi that Sakura was, she immediately figured out the implications of this new development. "That means now that my powers are unlocked, you have to disappear..." Sakura felt tears sting behind her eyes at the thought of her long-time friend leaving her.

"Yes," Inner Sakura's eyes were slightly watery but then they hardened to determined diamonds once more, "But not yet, your power has not been fully released yet. The cursed seal Orochimaru gave you along with the full power of the unleashed Kurohoshi no Arashi would be enough to kill you instantly."

"So what must I do?" Sakura sat up straighter and the will to live filled her.

"The cursed seal will test you and try to bend you to its will. It will immerse you in a terrible illusion or show you visions of things you have always wanted. You must not give in, Sakura; you must not accept the dark power."

The two girls clasped hands and smiled at each other, enjoying their last moment of piece in the beautiful oasis of Sakura's mind.

Inner Sakura leaned in to peck her on the cheek, her black eyes sparkling with just a tiny bit of the mischievousness that Sakura knew was her dominant quality.

"Kick ass sweetheart and make me fucking proud. And make sure you don't lose to Ino in any of those drinking contests. Take care of Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji and Sai and punch Sasuke hard in the mouth for me when you find that fucker."

Sakura's smile turned lopsided, "Done."

Inner Sakura nodded, satisfied, "That's my girl."

And then she was gone.

For a few seconds silence washed over the lovely plains of Sakura's mind. The very blades of glass seemed to tremble in anticipation, the clouds freezing in the azure sky.

And then her mind-world flickered out, like a candle blown out on a birthday cake.

And then the onslaught began.

The raw emotion flooding through her sluggish body could be equated to a defibrillator sending currents of electricity through a corpse. She wanted to laugh, cry, dance, sing, jump, fly, scream and break into a million pieces. She wanted to stab a hole in herself to release the emotions filling her like an overstretched balloon. She wanted to sever her spinal cord to stop the neurons from firing in her brain, stop the overwhelming tsunami of feelings. She wanted to crack her head against the stone wall until it was a bloodied mess of shattered bone and squished brain-matter.

She wanted to die.

Then suddenly the rush of emotions stopped and she felt the swirling mass of emotions, much resembling a huge version of Naruto's Rasengan, dissipate. There was no relief, just the hollowness that came from being filled and then left empty and cracked around the edges.

She slowly opened her eyes, blinking furiously to clear her blurred vision. The sight that met her newly un-hazed sight was two dark emerald eyes staring straight back at her.

She blinked again and realized that she was once again staring at another version of herself. Embedded in the thick glass of the dark mirror she was gazing into, the other Sakura let a slow smirk lift one corner of her mouth tauntingly. This other Sakura's hair crackled around her form, as if tossed around by an unnatural wind. Her eyes were dark with apathy and a hint of malicious intent. But the thing that shocked Sakura most about her mirror-image were the curse marks, curling spirals trailing from her left cheek, down her neck and over the curve of her shoulder.

With frantic eyes, she quickly flicked her eyes to her own body to make sure that her body was still curse mark free. A heavy sigh of relief exited her lips when she realized that her skin was still unblemished by the ugly black brands.

"Scared of your future sweetheart?"

Sakura's eyes quickly flipped back to her reflection as the dark image started speaking.

"That is not my future," she growled, "I would never sell out for power."

Her reflection sneered, placing one hand on a cocked hip, "Weak idiot, you're not worth anyone's time. Even after all these years, you're still that stupid little girl that everyone left crying in the dust."

"Shut up!" Sakura growled, her hands clenching into fists that could easily bring down mountains.

"Oh did I hit a nerve?" the smirking reflection lifted her hand and began to examine black-painted nails, "Face it, you're weak and you always have been. You've never been able to protect those you love and you never will be unless you embrace the cursed seal."

The mirror flashed blisteringly bright, causing viridian eyes to squint, and a new scene replaced her proxy. It was a battlefield, highlighted by the sun dipping coyly under the horizon. The field was razed to the ground, littered with holes and splintered trees, no doubt caused by all the jutsu the shinobi had just recently used. Sakura noticed thick, acrid smoke still rising from a few areas and she smelt the fresh odor of blood, sweat, tears, regret and death.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto called so softly, she barely heard the tired whisper.

With a strangled sob, she pushed against the slab of cool glass, and to her surprise, she passed through. Now she was in the world of the battle-field, the sights and smells much more intense to her senses. She stumbled over to her fallen bestfriend, tumbling to her knees by his side.

"Sakura..." his voice was so raspy it was as if someone had rubbed his throat raw with sand-paper. Her medic-senses kicked in and she quickly took in his injuries. His arms had been popped violently out of their sockets and know lay thrown haphazardly across the ground in disgusting angles. He had been slit open from his sternum to his pelvis and his intestines were oozing out of the open cavity, surrounded by a thick coating of black blood, flies were already settling in the wound. Bile rose thickly in her throat and she summoned healing chakra swiftly to her hands placing them firmly on her broken friend's chest. But the healing chakra was not coming to her finger-tips, no matter how hard she summoned it.

"Sakura-chan..." Her name left his lips on his last breath, life leaving his beautiful azure eyes.

She screamed and screamed and screamed, tearing her nails into her scalp and sobbing tearlessly while laying against his corpse. She was dying, she was flying, and she was shattering like a glass figurine.

A another group of bodies drew her attention and her tear-blurred eyes caught a sight of chocolate locks, pineapple hair and dark, bottomless eyes.

"Neji, Sai, Shikamaru," their names were foreign on her lips, as if she had forgotten how to speak, how to feel.

Neji was already drained of life-force. His head tilted back showcasing the very deep slash over his jugular, congealed blood clinging like blackened dew-drops to his skin. His pearl eyes were half-open, glazed with milky-film like a dead fish.

Shikamaru's skin, usually bronzed by all his cloud-watching sessions, was the colour of fresh snow with a deep blue tone. His hands were loosely curled around his throat and his tongue lolled out of his mouth, pitch black. Poison, Sakura recognized immediately, deeply painful venom that causes every red-blood cell to explode and renders the blood as thin as water. Asphyxiation: such an unfitting death for such a brave shinobi.

Sai lay by his side; another life cut heart-breakingly short. His body was spread-eagled, black voids still frozen in an eternity of intense pain. His pants had been pulled down to his ankles, along with his black boxers. Sakura's eyes averted with a sob as she observed his humiliation, Sai had been castrated. His genital roughly hewn off with what Sakura hypothesized was a kunai, leaving a bloody stump. She turned away from the sight of his body, emptying her stomach so violently, stars burst in front of her eyes.

She wiped her mouth wretchedly on the back of her hand, the acid burning her cracked and broken lips.

Her deadened eyes cast one more look around the battle-field and some subconscious part of her understood that this was just an illusion. But it seemed so real, every sight, sound and smell seamlessly blended to drive her mind in a chaotic whirlwind of hurt.

All around her were the twisted bodies of those she held close to her heart.

Anko's head had been detached from her body, laying face-up in a puddle of vomit and blood just a few paces away from where Sakura stood.

Hinata, Tenten and Ino had suffered much the same fate, their panties pooled around their ankles and their thighs bloody. Their eyes all held the same sightless relief, they had _wanted _to die.

Tsunade-shishou, her strong and gorgeous mentor, was a mess of blood, gore and bones. Her face had been beaten so badly that her teeth were visible from areas her cheeks had been torn out.

And Kakashi-sensei, her tall, aloof father figure, back always as straight as he led the way to their next mission. He would never walk again, his spine just a splintered mass of bone chips from what she could see of his back.

Genma would never use his silver-tongue to woo women again, the muscle had been hacked out of his mouth. The kunai through his right-eye had sunk into his brain, ending his life.

She closed her eyes and ignored the soft chuckle that resounded behind her. She felt a hand start to play with her hair, twirling pink locks around pale fingers.

"Poor thing couldn't even save her friends with her pitiful medical ninjutsu," a dark voice whispered in her ear, "If only you were powerful enough to stop their needless deaths." The hand in her hair fisted tightly and she was jerked backwards to stare up into her reflection's mildly amused jade eyes.

"Join me," she said, "Embrace the power and you'll never be weak again."

For a moment that seemed like an eternity, Sakura was tempted.

She saw the dead bodies of her friends flash through her mind like a slideshow from hell.

'Sasuke...'

With a smile on her face, she lifted her eyes to meet those of her reflection.

"I. Am. Not. Weak."

Then Sakura cocked back her arm and punched her alternate self in the mouth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: (Wide eyed look) I'm SORRY!! (Random line of excuses)

All those stupid culminating essays I had to do...

It was exam week!! Math was killlerrr...

I have this creepy girl that thinks she's my best friend and she's gonna commit suicide if don't talk to her for atleast twenty minutes a day... blah she's so awkward... (and a few days ago she told me she was a lesbian (which would not be so weird if I wasn't worried she was gonna jump my bones.)

My cousins favourite fish 'Hitler' died... now we only have 'Stalein'...

I had soo many hours at work, damn coffee shop...

I lost my favourite hair-tie...

Sakura refused to be put in certain situations... she was only happy after I stuck her with a nearly naked Sasuke cuddling her... D

My friend Twisted Harmony and I have been dealing with much drama between our friends...

(Random line of excuses is now finished...)

Blah, before I forget, the Sakura vs. Her reflection scene is inspired by a certain friend of mine... let's call him 'Shadow'. Shadow's going through some tough times right now but I want him to know I'm here for him, even if I keep ditching his movie trips and soccer games (sorry sirr).

Thanks as always, to Twisted Harmony, for making this fic readable (I DON'T EVEN HAVE SPELLCHECK BLAHHH). She's just a whole bundle of awesome amazingness. Goodluck with getting the Garbage Truck to grow balls, love.

Some of Sasuke's feelings for Sakura are revealed, as is Sakura's true history. Tensions seem to be on a rise at the camp of our beloved rescuers and animosity will just keep on increasing.

THANK YOU so much, loyal reviewers. I luff cho.

Please review, reviews are my sunshine on a dark and dreary day. (Glomps reviewers to death. SQUEEE!)

Ahem (regains composure), well, now that school is over, updating will be more frequent.

'Spank choo.

-Tempest.

Final Pretty Lyric: It takes my pain away. It's a lie, a kiss with open eyes and she's not breathing back.


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